Salmon Slayer
by EximiusMax
Summary: Hilda discovers the shady yet intriguing job of Grizzco Industries, and is hired to stop the Salmon Runs. Heading into battle against the Salmonids alongside her friend Jayde, it soon comes to light that Hilda's battle is more than just a simple part-time job to her. At least, if her intense hatred for the Salmonids says anything. (ENDING UPDATED)
1. Chapter 1: Mysterious Job

**Hello, and welcome to Salmon Slayer! Yep, I'm back! This story is based on the Salmon Run mode in Splatoon 2.**

 **Quotes that are in _italics_ are thoughts being said within the character's mind, and not out loud.**

 ** _ **(A/N 9-6-17: The first few chapters have been updated a bit.)**_**

 **I hope you all enjoy the story!**

* * *

"Man...what a day," said an Inkling girl, holding her earnings from a recent chain of Turf Wars. "Aww...I thought for sure I'd make it least 15,000 today...and here I am just 2,300 short. Damn. Maybe I'll play some more Turf Wars later for some extra dough."

The purple-haired girl walked out of the Battle Lobby at Deca Tower into Inkopolis Square, the Great Zapfish watching over from the top of the building. She had her hair in a bun style, though the Jellyvader Cap on her head covered it up. She had fair skin and dark green eyes, and was wearing a White Deca Logo Tee alongside Orange Arrows and standard shorts. Inklings were walking around talking with one another, some were hanging around the lobby, others by the café tables, and some were simply hanging out wherever they could.

" _...Huh, not that many people out here today,_ " the girl thought to herself, " _Wonder where everyone-_ "

"Yo, Hilda!" yelled a voice.

"Huh?" she turned her head to see a green-haired Inkling girl running towards her. "Oh, hey Jayde!" Jayde was a little bit taller than Hilda, and had pale skin. She had orange eyes and wore her hair in the standard "long" style. She wore a Black V-neck Tee with skirt legwear and Arrow Pull-Ons. She had Tinted Shades resting on top her head, but was not wearing them over her eyes.

"So how were your Turf War matches today?" Jayde asked.

"Lackluster, but good," Hilda responded, "Didn't make that much today. These new Orange Arrows didn't work as well as I'd hoped they would. I think I'll stick with the Moto Boots. So, how about you? Did'cha you have any luck getting to S rank?"

"Nope. I was so close, though! My rank meter is on the verge of breaking at this point. We would've won that last match if that one dude wasn't squiddin' around like an idiot."

"I guess we both had a lackluster day then, huh?"

"Eh, yeah. Hey, you wanna get a drink at the Crust Bucket or something?"

"Nah. How about a bite? I'm starving!"

"Sure! I could use an experience boost." The two Inklings made their way to Crusty Sean's Crust Bucket, Inkopolis Square's number one spot for food and drink. Hilda ordered a Deep-Fried Shwaffle, and Jayde ordered a Super Seanwich and a cup of Tentacola. The two sat down at a nearby table and talked for a while.

"Have you noticed there aren't that many people in the square, today?" Hilda asked.

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Jayde responded, "They're probably at the Wet Floor Concert that's supposed to happen in a little bit."

"Oh right! I forgot about that! Have you heard their latest album?"

"Oh, you mean-" The two were interrupted by the Inkopolis News as it began on the largest screen on Deca Tower, with Off the Hook delivering the local news and stage updates. The two Inklings mostly ignored it.

"And now a word from our sponsor!" Hilda heard Pearl say, catching her attention. She turned her head to see the screen. "Grizzco is hiring! Apply now!" With that, the news broadcast ended.

"Grizzco...?" Hilda said to herself, "What's that?"

"You haven't heard of 'em?!" Jayde said in surprise, "Haven't you been following the Inkopolis News?"

"Not really. I use SplatNet to check the stages these days."

Jayde pointed to the Grizzco building next to the lobby, to left of the tower. "See that orange building over there? That's the entrance to Grizzco Industries."

"That one? Huh. What kind of job is it?"

"Urm...I'm not sure how to put it, exactly. You'll have to go see for yourself in order to understand. They have some good rewards though, including some extra bucks if you need it."

"Really?!"

"Yeah! But I do have to warn you, though. It's...pretty dangerous, and a little shady. But oh boy, it's quite an amazing thrill! I honestly think you'd like it."

"Huh. Sounds interesting. Are they open right now?"

"Yeah, they're always hiring! If you wanna apply, talk to the guy named Mr. Grizz."

"Mr. Grizz. Got it." Hilda and Jayde finished their meals, talking a bit more and then saying their goodbyes. Jayde headed for the lobby to participate in more battles, while Hilda walked towards Grizzco. She stopped just outside the entrance.

"So...this is Grizzco?" Hilda examined the place. It looked to be in relatively good condition, yet at the same time it wasn't. She looked inside; it seemed dimly lit and had a creepy feel to it. There were cans and coolers everywhere, some of the cans where lazily spilled across the ground and empty. Various large fishing hooks where scattered across the ceiling and pictures of strange and creepy-looking fish creatures were placed everywhere.

" _Ugh...this place is already giving me the creeps._ " Hilda slowly walked in and looked around more. It looked much brighter once she was actually inside, and it felt a bit chilly, as if someone left an air conditioner on when it didn't need to be. There were nets holding lots of strange glowing orange spheres. Several static screens covered one of the walls, along with a small control panel alongside them. A lot graphs, plans, and machinery decorated the rest of the walls. Jayde was right. This was pretty shady.

Hilda looked at the various depictions of the strange-looking fish creatures. She had a sudden feeling of dread and déjà vu. " _Wh-Why do I feel like I've seen these things before...? They look oddly fa-_ "

"Hey, kid!" said a loud raspy voice that sounded as if it were coming from a walkie talkie.

"Huh?! M-Mr. Grizz?"

"Oh, you know my name already. Nice. Anywa-"

"Where are you? I don't see you anywhere!"

"Ugh. Over here, kid." Hilda looked around until she spotted where the voice was coming from: a small, wooden statue of an animal Hilda had never seen before with a fish in its mouth. A long radio antenna was attached to the top of its head. It was sitting atop one of the coolers.

"M-Mr. Grizz?" Hilda was stunned. "You're a...statue?"

"Well...not really. But that ain't important. Moving on, how would you like to help shape the future of Inkopolis? Welcome to Grizzco Industries. As you already seem to know, my name is Mr. Grizz. How'd you know that, anyway?"

"A friend told me."

"Hm. Well, here at Grizzco, we're tryin' to make the world a better place, and we need fresh young talent like you to help. It's just your run-of-the-mill, manual-labor type of work, but it's for a good cause, and we pay well."

"Manual labor? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, ya see kid, there are these vicious, unfeeling creatures that live in the water called Salmonids. Your job is t-"

"Hold on. Stop right there."

"Wha...?"

"What did you say these creatures were called again?"

"Salmonids. They're vicious creatures that lurk in the seas of a restricted area outside the coast." Hilda's eyes widened for a moment, as if some sort of revelation had just occurred. "Uh...kid? You okay?

Hilda suddenly approached closer towards the wooden statue, her expression changed. She said slowly, "I'm listening."


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Grizzco

A small fishing boat made its way through the seas into a large, restricted area. The sea went from crystal blue to a dirty green. The boat was equipped with several life preservers and nets; a large beach-like umbrella was stationed on the stern and a satellite dish on the bow. It advanced rapidly towards a small man-made landmass.

Hilda was aboard the vessel, adjusting her new Grizzco uniform. It was made of a protective rubbery material, and consisted of orange overalls, a white shirt, green gloves and boots, and a white and green cap. Attached to the cap were two silver drink bags, which were uses of a special weapon. She was solely focused on the area the boat was headed for as it got closer and closer.

"Is that it?" Hilda asked.

"Yep," said Mr. Grizz, "That there is known as the Spawning Grounds. That's where your training will begin. DON'T SLACK OFF."

" _Don't worry. I won't._ "

The boat finally came to a stop right outside the area. "Alright kid, get ready to super jump."

Hilda super jumped onto the island, equipped with a standard Splattershot. She looked around – this was no normal island. It was clearly artificial...most of it, anyway. A lot of the structure was made of stone or metal, and seemed to be atop a small island of dark sand. A foul smell was in the air, unlike anything Hilda had ever smelled before, mixed with the smell of the dirty ocean surrounding her.

" _Yeesh. This place is a dump._ "

"Lesson One: The Basics," Mr. Grizz began over the uniform's built-in radio, "As I explained back at the shop, your job is to take out and harvest the Power Eggs from the vicious Salmonids. They show up here during what are known as Salmon Runs. A Salmon Run is a period of- Y'know what...Nevermind, it's all in the handbook. You've got a few Salmonids on your hands. Go take 'em out."

Hilda looked around until she spotted a trio of Salmonids heading for her. Her grip on her weapon tightened. "Listen up," said Mr. Grizz, "What you're gonna wanna-"

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He was cut short by a fierce yell from Hilda as she attacked the Salmonids. She aggressively shot all three down within two seconds. " _Phew...THAT felt good._ "

"...W-Whoa, kid! Nice job! Looks like it dropped some Power Eggs. Those are what you're after. You should try to get as many of those as you can."

"So...get as many Power Eggs as possible by slaying Salmonids? Okay. Anything else I need to know?"

"Oh, we're just gettin' started, kid."

Hilda smirked. She collected the Power Eggs and super jumped back to the central point of the Spawning Grounds.

"Now, listen up!" Grizz continued, "This is VERY important. Your primary goal is to collect Golden Eggs and place them in the egg basket over there." Hilda looked to see the egg basket nearby. It was just that – a large steel basket for holding Golden Eggs. "Only Boss Salmonids have Golden Eggs."

"Boss Salmonids?"

"Yes. Greater, more powerful Salmonids that are far harder to take down than lesser Salmonids." Suddenly, an alarm sounded. I sounded like a deep fog horn. "Ah, right on cue! That alarm will sound when a Boss Salmonid's on its way. NOW GO FIND IT."

"On it!" Hilda searched the Spawning Grounds for the Boss Salmonid, walking past the Egg Basket towards the shoreline line. She spotted it soon after – it was a shining, golden Salmonid wearing what looked like a toga. Hilda froze for a second. " _Oh,_ " she thought, " _That's not_ _him_ _..._ " She approached the golden Salmonid and splatted it on the spot. " _Still a Salmonid regardless._ " It spilled three Golden Eggs.

"Ah...there they are. Grizzco is a results-based organization. If ya don't hit your Golden Egg quota by the end of a wave, your shift is finished. Now grab a Golden Egg and take it to the egg basket," Grizz ordered. Hilda inked one of the walls and rushed up to the egg basket. She placed the egg in the basket.

"Score!"

"Well done, kid. You just need two more to reach your quota. Just go grab the other Golden Eg- HUH?!" Hilda turned her head to see what caused Mr. Grizz to pause. She immediately saw an unarmed Salmonid snatching up the two eggs she left behind. "That filthy little Salmonid is stealing the eggs you harvested!"

Hilda immediately ran for the Salmonid. "HEY! Get your hands off those!" she yelled as she dove for it. The Salmonid, with both eggs, panicked and dove back into the sea before Hilda could tackle it. She landed face-first into the sand, nearly sliding into the water. "Grrr! Dammit!"

"Whoa there, calm down! That's a sure-fire way to get killed out here. Use your brain!"

"Ugh... Sorry, sir."

"NEVERMIND THAT, THOUGH. THAT SLIMY THIEF JUST STOLE MY EGGS! Look, the next time that happens, splat it before it gets back to the water! But DO NOT dive at it like you just did!"

"Understood, sir."

"GRRRR...Good. Now go find another egg."

"Yo! Over here!" yelled a voice over the radio. Hilda could trace a signal; it was coming from the shoreline where she found the trio of Salmonids before.

"Looks like a coworker is calling for ya. Go check out what she wants."

"Coworker? I thought I was alone."

"No way. You'll be sent out on teams of four on the real job. I just sent another one of my workers to help you out with your training."

"Okay." Hilda followed the signal and found the coworker with two Golden Eggs her side. She looked familiar to her. "Hey, thanks for- Wh-! Jayde?!"

"The one and only!" Jayde said.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Mr. Grizz sent me to help train you, duh! This is my part-time job! Anyway, here. Take this egg. I'll help you finish this off." Jayde handed Hilda a Golden Egg, and the two dumped their eggs in the basket.

"Good job, workers," Mr. Grizz said, "Hilda, is it? Communication with your coworkers is incredibly important. You're not gonna get this done by yourself. Understand?"

"Understood," Hilda said.

"Oh, by the way," Jayde told Hilda, "That life preserver thing on your back? It's super important. That's your lifesaver, and it's the one thing keeping you from a nasty death. If it breaks, it's really game over."

"What?"

"I told you this was dangerous! So listen, when you see a lifesaver floating around, that's a fallen coworker. Shoot them with ink to revive them. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"Alright, alright," said Grizzco, "Let's get you two back to the boat." The two Inklings were super jumped from the island to the fishing boat. The boat turned around and left the area back to the shop.

" _That Hilda girl..._ " Grizz thought to himself, " _She was quite...aggressive._ " He paused for a few seconds, and let out a satisfying chuckle. " _I can already tell she's gonna be one of my best employees..._ " He smirked and then said on the radio, "Hilda, you've got a bright future here."


	3. Chapter 3: First Shift

_The next day..._

Hilda's real work was about to begin. She arrived right on time at 14:00, and immediately headed for the docks. The boat was being prepared, with three Inklings, including Jayde, around it.

"Hey, Hilda!" Jayde said, "Glad you could make it."

"You think I'd miss my first day on the job?" Hilda said as she put on her uniform's hat, "I'm all pumped up and ready to take down some nasty Salmonids!"

"So this is the new girl?" said one of the Inklings.

"Yep!" Jayde answered, "Hilda, this Bryce. He's one of my partners."

"A pleasure to meet you, Hilda." The two shook hands.

"You too."

"That over there is Lucas." Bryce pointed to an Inkling standing on the stern of the boat. "He's the most experienced of us."

Lucas looked down towards Hilda, "Hey."

"And apparently he's also the most serious."

"So we're all a crew?" Hilda asked.

"Yep," said Bryce.

Bryce had fair skin and green eyes. His hair was colored green and was in the now-popular spiky style. He was the tallest of the crew. Lucas had tan skin with orange eyes and matching hair color in the sideswept bangs style.

"Attention," said Mr. Grizz over an intercom, "Boat #27 is leaving now. Hurry up and get movin'!"

"That's us! C'mon, let's go." The four Inklings boarded the boat just as it was leaving the docks for the restricted seas.

"Looks like we're going to the Marooner's Bay today," said Lucas, "The ride should take about 30 minutes."

"Marooner's Bay?" Hilda asked.

"There's two primary locations where the Salmonids seem to migrate," Jayde explained, "One of them is the Spawning Grounds, where we trained yesterday. The other one is the Marooner's Bay, which is where we're heading to now. There are some other places too, but our crew is stationed at those two for the most part."

"...I see." Hilda looked down at her hand. " _This is it. My first day on the job._ " She clenched her hand into a fist. " _If this job really is as dangerous as they say, I'll plow through as many Salmonids as I have to. And maybe...just maybe...I'll find just who I'm looking for._ "

 _30 minutes later..._

The crew, their hair colors now shifted to orange, super-jumped onto the Marooner's Bay, landing at the stern of a decaying shipwreck. The bay was literally an old, rusty boat marooned on a tiny island, hence its name. Several ramps were all over leading onto the soil, while three wooden docks were to the left of the once mighty vessel.

"Bleh...I'll never get used to this smell," Hilda said.

"Believe me, you will," said Lucas as their weapons were provided. Hilda got the Splattershot; Jayde, the Jet Squelcher; Bryce, the Flingza Roller; and Lucas, the Inkbrush.

"What the-?!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," Jayde said embarrassingly, "You...don't choose what weapon you bring here. We're loaned four weapons and we switch between each wave."

"Wha-...What kind of rule is that?"

"Ask Mr. Grizz."

"Can it!" Mr. Grizz responded, "The egg basket is now ready and waiting! Ya got 10 seconds until the hordes show up!"

"That's it?!" Hilda yelled.

"Come on! No time to waste!" Jayde yelled, "Spread your ink around! It'll make things easier for us!"

"G-Got it!" Hilda wasted no time in firing from the Splattershot, covering as much ground as she could. " _Dammit...I haven't used one of these things in ages._ "

"Oh, and Hilda! That point where we landed over there? Even though it isn't actually a Spawn Point, we like to call it that. So when we say 'Spawn Point', that's the area we're talking about."

"Understood."

Suddenly, the Boss Salmonid alarm sounded. "You've got a boss Salmonid on your hands," said Mr. Grizz. "DO YOUR JOB!"

"Everyone, spread out!" ordered Bryce, "Find out where the Salmonids are coming from!"

"Right!" said Jayde and Lucas simultaneously as everyone went in different directions. Hilda was looked around for any signs of the Salmonids, frantically turning her head looking for the foul creatures.

" _Where are they...?_ "

"Steelhead! Over here!" Jayde yelled. A signal from the suit pointed towards her location: the docks. Everyone rushed to her, swimming through their ink. Hilda bumped into Bryce on her way towards the incoming horde.

"Ow! Hey, watch it!" Bryce scolded.

"Outta my way!" Hilda responded as she jumped out and relentlessly attacked the Salmonids, only to be greeted by a massive, armored Salmonid. "What the-?! What is that?!"

"That's a Steelhead!" yelled Jayde, "It's got armored scales that make it impervious to our ink!"

"Great...now what?"

"BOMB!" Lucas yelled as the Steelhead threw one of its massive bag-like bombs at the crew. Hilda and the others rushed away as the bomb exploded, covering a wide area in green Salmonid ink.

"Son of a seasnake! How do you take down this thing?!"

"Salmon Run 101!" said Bryce, "The Steelhead's weapon is ironically its weakness; aim for the bomb as it fills up with ink on the big guy's head! If we time it right, it should explode on his head and take it out!"

"I got it!" Jayde said as she aimed her weapon at the beast's head. The second it started to charge up its bomb, Jayde unloaded. The Steelhead was taken down by the blast, dropping three Golden Eggs. "Let's get these eggs to the basket!"

"I got these guys. You three take the eggs back," said Hilda.

"Uh, Hilda? Not a good idea!" By then Bryce and Lucas had already made a break for the basket with their eggs in tow. Hilda charged towards the Salmonids, much to Jayde's frustration.

"I got you, you-" Hilda started to yell before she was turned into a burst of ink.

Jayde sighed. "Dammit, Hilda..." She sent a signal to the Bryce and Lucas. A lifesaver popped out of the green Salmonid ink, and Hilda spammed the help signal. "I'm right here!" Jayde yelled as she revived Hilda with a few shots from her weapon.

"Thanks," Hilda said coldly as she aimed her weapons at the Salmonids again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! No way! You're still new to this, Hilda. This isn't like Turf War or Ranked Battles. This is serious. You should take that egg to the basket and let us handle it for now."

"Wha-? But I-"

"You heard her!" yelled Grizz over the radio, "GET THE EGG TO THE BASKET."

"Fine." Hilda scooped up the egg and rushed for the basket, growling as doing so. She put the egg in the basket and then rushed back towards the others, proceeding to shoot the Salmonids. She fired relentlessly, almost furiously, trying to take out as many as she could.

"Hilda! Behind you!" Bryce yelled.

"Wha-?" She was interrupted by a fierce blow to the head with a frying pan, knocking her down into the Salmonid ink. "AH! Urgh...what the h-" She briefly caught sight of a large Salmonid before being splatted by the same pan the creature was holding. Bryce swiftly took it down with a swipe of his roller and revived Hilda.

"That there was a Cohock," he explained, "They hit hard! Oh, and ALWAYS watch your back."

"Ugh..."

The boss alarm sounded again. "Hilda!" said Jayde, "Come with me! We're gonna go take out that Boss Salmonid. Bryce, Lucas, take out these guys!"

"Consider it done!" Bryce replied. Hilda followed Jayde to the center of the area, looking around.

"Where is it? Where is it?"

"There he is!" Hilda yelled, pointing westward, "It's another Steelhead! And he's bought some pals!" A Steelhead washed ashore with several Salmonids behind him.

"Okay, see those Salmonids?" Jayde said, "Those are the standard soldiers. We call them Chums. The big guys are the Cohocks, and the little tiny guys are called Smallfries."

"Are those the Smallfries?" Hilda pointed to a group of Smallfries running straight for them, with the Steelhead and Chums following them.

"Yep! Okay, listen closely. Stay calm and don't get crazy, got it?"

"...Yeah."

"Alright, then unload!" The Jayde fired at the Salmonids while Hilda rushed at them, splatting as many as they could. The Steelhead started to get closer and closer. "Hilda, I'm gonna let you take this one. Remember, when it starts to pump up its bomb – go for it."

"Got it." Hilda waited patiently as Jayde took out the Salmonids around them. The Steelhead growled and began to charge his weapon. "EAT THIS YA OVERGROWN FISH!" Hilda unleashed hell as she fired upon the massive Salmonid, splatting it just as it was about to launch its bomb. "I-I did it! My first boss kill!"

"Fresh! Now let's get these to the basket for a sweet bonus! Send a signal to get Bryce or Lucas over here to pick up that third egg." Jayde and Hilda went to the basket as Hilda sent the signal. They put their eggs in the basket just as Bryce arrived with the third egg. He placed it in the basket just as time was up.

"Come to papa little egg..." said Mr. Grizz, "NOW BRING ME MORE!" The four teammates were sent back to the Spawn Point and given new weapons.

"Aw what?!" Hilda exclaimed, "I'm terrible with the Inkbrush!"

"I know the feeling," said Bryce, holding the Jet Squelcher, "Try going in with a CHARGER. We all suck with those...except Lucas."

"Nope," said Lucas, holding the Splattershot, "I'm just better with it than you guys."

"That was blunt, dude."

"Forgot it! There's Salmonids that need to be toasted!"

"Right!" The second wave began, and a third Steelhead made himself known.

"He's mine!" Hilda said as she used her Inkbrush to rush at the Steelhead.

"Hilda! Wait!" Jayde said.

Lucas let out a long sigh. "I got her," he said as he followed her. Hilda saw the Steelhead ready to charge up his bomb and rushed up until she was right in front of him.

"Take this!" she said as she swung her Inkbrush at the bomb. But it was unless. The brush couldn't reach his head. "Wha-? Grrrr!" She jumped up and down trying to reach it. The Steelhead could only look at her in confusion. Hilda quickly ran out of ink as the bomb landed right behind her. "AW COD DA-" The bomb exploded, turning her into a small puddle of green ink.

Lucas quickly arrived. The Steelhead prepared another attack, but Lucas defeated it before it could finish. He swiftly revived Hilda.

"Hey, tha-"

"What were you thinking?!" Lucas scolded, "That thing doesn't have the range to reach that guy's head! Use your brain, for crying out loud! Ugh..." Lucas grabbed a Golden Egg and ran off for the basket.

Hilda glared at him for a few seconds. "Grrrrr..." She then proceeded to grab a Golden Egg, splatting a Salmonid who tried to take them back while she was at it, and continued splatting as many Salmonids as she could on her way back to the basket.

"Hey Jayde," said Lucas as he arrived at the basket, meeting her there.

"What is it?" Jayde asked as she and Bryce returned with two more eggs from another Boss Salmonid.

"Watch over Hilda. I can already tell the little squirt's gonna get herself killed out here. A lot."

"Jeez, Lucas," said Bryce, "It's her first day. Give her a break."

"Ugh...just make sure she doesn't get into any serious trouble." Lucas went out to search for more eggs, and Bryce did the same. Hilda arrived shortly after to deliver her Golden Egg.

"Freakin' jackass," she said as she threw the egg in the basket.

"Hey," said Jayde, "Lucas is pretty rough on rookies. That's why I'm your trainer and not him. I suggest not talking to him for now."

"Thanks for the advice."

"Look, just focus on getting the Golden Eggs into the basket. Okay?"

"..." Hilda sighed as she tried to calm down. "Alright."

"Just stay close to me." Jayde left to find more Boss Salmonids, and Hilda followed. The two quickly encountered more Salmonids heading for them, and engaged in combat.

"Scrappers! Two of 'em! By the shoreline!" yelled Bryce as he sent a signal, "I need backup!"

"On our way!" Hilda and Jayde followed the signal and where greeted by two armored vehicles. They looked like they were hastily slapped together, but still strong enough to run over an Inkling, a fate Bryce had unfortunately met. They rushed straight for the two Inklings.

"Fire at 'em!" Jayde ordered.

"But I have a brush!" Hilda replied.

"Just keep smacking him with it, then!" The two opened fire at the Scrappers, stopping them but seemingly not doing much.

"Ugh! It's not working, Jayde!" Hilda said.

"Keep at it! They'll break down eventually." True to her word, the vehicles broke down. The Salmonids inside frantically tried to repair the machines. "Quick! The back's exposed! Sneak around them and splat 'em from behind!" The two circled the panicking fish and swiftly took them down. Six Golden Eggs dropped. "Nice!"

"Um...a little help?!" yelled Bruce from his Lifesaver.

"Oh! Sorry!" Hilda quickly revived him.

"Thanks! Let's get these eggs to the basket, we'll be three times over the quota!" The three each grabbed a Golden Egg and rushed over to the basket. Upon placing them in, they went back to grab the rest.

"Hey...where's Lucas?" Jayde asked. Immediately she noticed a Lifesaver with a Golden Egg in it alongside the other two left behind by the Scrappers.

"There he is." Bryce said as he revived him. Lucas didn't say a word as he rushed to the basket. Hilda didn't look at him. She and Jayde grabbed the remaining eggs and put them in the basket as the timer hit zero.

"Nice work," said Grizz, "Five eggs above quota. But you're not done yet!" The four Inklings were again super-jumped to the Spawn Point. Hilda was given the Flingza Roller.

"Alright...last wave," said Lucas, "No slacking." Hilda grunted in response. She rushed off to cover the area with ink.

" _I'm not trying to slack off,_ " Hilda thought.

"HILDA, STOP!" yelled Jayde.

"Wha- WHOA!" Hilda skidded to a stop as she noticed the water level rising. She quickly turned back around just as the seas nearly consumed her. Now, only the deck of the old ship was above the water.

"Dammit! High tide!"

"High tide?!"

"The tides here are well known for changing rapidly!" Bryce explained, "Our work space is a lot smaller now. Be careful!"

"Okay...got it! _Dammit..._ "

The Boss Salmonid alarm sounded and everyone scattered. Hilda plowed through the hordes of Salmonids with her roller as they spawned by the bow, crushing any that dared to enter her line of sight. " _Boss Salmonid, Boss Salmonid, Boss Salmonid...Where is it?!_ " A signal was suddenly sent, coming from near the starboard side. Hilda looked to see Jayde and Bryce, wielding the Inkbrush and Jet Squelcher respectively, dealing with what looked like an enormous stack of cooking pots atop a burner. A Salmonid was resting at the very top. She rushed over. "Okay, what's this thing?"

"It's a Stinger!" Jayde exclaimed, "This guy is basically the Salmonid's sniper."

"Sniper?"

"Look out!" yelled Lucas as he arrived, "It's about to fire!" The Stinger unleashed its nasty Sting Ray beam, targeting Hilda.

"Gah!" Hilda tried to evade, but tripped and again landed right into a puddle of green ink. The Stringer had little trouble taking her out.

"Dammit!" said Bryce as he approached the Stinger, "Take him down!" He fired at the cooking pot tower, knocking away the pots one at a time until the Stringer landed on the burner, splatting it and destroying the burner. Jayde rushed to revive Hilda.

"Thanks, Jayde," said Hilda.

"No problem!" Jayde replied as she gave Hilda a thumbs-up.

"Hey, Jayde! Hilda!" Bryce yelled, "Lucas and I will take these Golden Eggs back! Go find more bosses to take down!"

"What?!" Lucas said.

"Lucas, it's fine! We can trust her! She's with Jayde!"

"Let's just go," Jayde suggested. The two headed for the bow, where a large group of Salmonids was coming from. The two took down the Salmonid hordes until they were greeted by another Steelhead.

" _Another one?!_ " Hilda thought, " _What, is today Steelhead Saturday or somethin'?_ "

"Taking down this guy should make the quota! Then all we gotta do is tough it out until the Salmon Run ends!"

"Alright, let's take it d-" Hilda suddenly remembered Lucas's scolding. _'That thing doesn't have the range to reach that guy's head!'_ "Wait a minute...Carp! Our weapons are close range!"

"Son of a seasnake...you're right! Bryce! Lucas! We got a Steelhead!"

"On my way!" yelled Bryce, "There are a ton of Salmonids over here though, and Lucas is down! Be careful!"

"Right!" said Hilda and Jayde as they rushed away; Bryce went to take down the Steelhead.

"I think I'm startin' to get the hang of this!" Hilda said to Jayde as she plowed through more Salmonids. "Eat this, you smelly pests!"

"HEY! Over here!" yelled Lucas from his Lifesaver.

"You go get him. These guys are mine!" Hilda continued her onslaught while Jayde revived Lucas. Hilda's eyes showed pure hatred as she ran over dozens of Salmonids. "I'll splat every last one of you! I will-"

"Hey!" yelled Bryce, "There's a Snatcher taking the last egg from the Steelhead!"

"Then go get it!"

"You get it, you're closest!" yelled Lucas.

"I'm busy right now!"

"Will you just-"

"SHUT IT! BOTH OF YOU!" yelled Mr. Grizz, "You just let that damn thief run off with it!" Jayde face-palmed as Hilda and Lucas gave each other glaring looks.

"Guys, it's alright!" said Bryce, "We're only one egg away from quota! We'll be fine!"

"We've only got 45 seconds left!" yelled Lucas.

"Bryce is right," said Jayde, "We only need one more, and we're just wasting time arguing with other! There's Salmonids coming from every direction!"

The group looked around to find themselves surrounded. "Oh shit!" yelled Bryce.

"Don't just stand there!" yelled Hilda, "Take 'em out!" Hilda once again threw herself into battle, eradicating as many Salmonid as possible. The others joined in, trying to clear out the area. "I'll take the area down h-" Hilda yelled as she stopped by the bow, forgetting the shore was submerged in water. "Whoa! Phew...that was-" She was again interrupted by a Chum, who shoved her off the bow and into the water. Jayde immediately splatted the Chum and the surrounding Salmonids, reviving Hilda as she did so.

"Right...it's high tide..."

"High tide means less room to work with. Remember that," Jayde told Hilda.

"Right...sorry."

"Guys! I found it!" said Bryce, "The Boss Salmonid we need to reach our quota!" A Stinger appeared along with a number of Chums by the starboard side.

"We've only got 20 seconds left! Let's make this quick!" yelled Lucas.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Jayde said. The entire crew rushed for the Stinger. They took it down pot by pot until it dropped its Golden Eggs. Hilda, Bryce, and Jayde each grabbed an egg.

"Alright!" said Bryce, "Now let's-" His enthusiasm was suddenly washed away when he realized the crew was completely surrounded by Salmonids. "Oh no..."

"We're surrounded!"

"15 SECONDS! WE'RE SCREWED!" yelled Lucas.

Hilda was frozen. " _S-So...many..._ "

"Not yet!" yelled Bryce as he fired at them, "We just need to-" He was splatted before he could finish.

"Bryce!" said Lucas, "Jayde, help me out here!"

But Jayde was already splatted.

"Dammit! Game over! It's a wrap!"

"No. NOT YET!" Hilda yelled as she slammed her roller to the ground and screamed as she made a break for the basket, Golden Egg in tow, plowing down numerous Salmonid soldiers. Seven seconds left. A Cohock tried to block her path. "OUT OF MY WAY." She jumped up and bounced off the Salmonids head. Three seconds. She grabbed the Golden Egg from her back and hurled at the basket while in mid-air. One second.

Just as the basket began to close up, the egg landed right in. The crew had succeeded at the last second. Literally. Hilda landed hard on her back with a thud, skidding to the stop right at the edge of the stern, nearly falling over it. "Urgh!" The Salmonids, now at the end of their run, retreated back to the waters.

"Yeah! That's right!" Hilda yelled, "You better run! YOU BETTER RUN!" Lucas stared at her in shock.

" _Holy carp..._ " he thought, " _Now I see why Mr. Grizz hired her..._ "

"YES!" yelled Jayde as she jumped around in her Lifesaver, "Nice one, Hilda!"

"Oh!" Lucas revived Jayde and Bryce, and the four gathered at the basket.

"Hilda!" said Bryce excitingly, "That was...that was amazing! How did you do that?!"

"Well...um..." Hilda said. Even she was unsure. "I guess it's 'cause I play sports?"

"Ha ha ha! Well done, workers!" said Grizz, "I must say, Hilda, you're very deserving of that raise I'm about to give you and your crew! Alright, back to the boat." The four where then super-jumped back to the fishing boat, and it began to head back towards Inkopolis.

"Son of a gun..." Jayde said to Hilda, "That was insane!"

"Yeah," said Hilda as she took off her hat. "That felt REALLY good."

"That was good, Hilda," said Bryce as he wiped the sweat off his face, "Not the best, but pretty good for a first-timer."

"Thanks." She paused. She clenched her fists. "I hate them. I hate them all."

"You do, huh? Is that why you were so aggressive out there?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hilda," said Jayde, "Again, you did good. But you have to remember this: you need to focus on those Golden Eggs, too. That's the main part of the job."

"I know...but I just...I can't stand them."

"Let's have a look at the handbook when we get back, alright? It'll teach you everything you need to know. Really, it does help."

"Alright." Hilda paused again. "Ya know...I kinda like this job."

"I'm glad, kid," said Mr. Grizz, "You've got potential here. You all do. THAT right there is just the kind of talent we're looking for. So great work out there, kids. I'll be sure to put this on your bonus review."


	4. Chapter 4: Charge

"Okay, I think I get it now," said Hilda as she closed up the Employee Handbook.

"I told you it would help!" Jayde said. The two Inklings were sitting at a small wooden table in a room right beside the main entrance room of Grizzco. The metal-plated walls were covered with various maps, coordinates, and posters. A window was on the left wall, with a door next to it leading to the Grizzco Docks where the boats were.

"Sucks that we can't super-jump on our own out there...I'm not used to not having my senses."

"Don't worry, we can still sense signals thanks to our suits, but other than that it really is about eyesight."

"Damn..." Hilda looked at the handbook again. "Y'know...this thing is pretty sloppily put together."

"Yeah. But hey, it's better than that 338-page manual."

Hilda chuckled. "Yeah, no kidding! But...I am wondering one thing." She opened up the handbook to a random page. "What's with all these pictures of girls? Grizz has got at least twenty of 'em in here."

"Beats me. I asked him and he said he didn't put them there. But if you ask me?" Jayde looked around for a bit before whispering, "I think he's got a little secret." Both girls giggled.

"So...our next shift is in a few minutes, right?"

"Yep," said Bryce by the left door.

"GAH! Where'd you come from?!"

"The docks?"

"Don't scare me like that, will ya?!"

"Sorry!"

"I suggest you guys get your gear on and get out here!" Lucas yelled from the boat, "It's almost time to go!"

"We're comin'! Keep your pants on!" yelled Jayde.

"Where's this next shift at?" Hilda asked.

"Marooner's Bay again," Bryce said, "It's still the same recruitment drive. In fact, this should be our last shift of the day before Grizz closes up shop."

"Drive?"

"Yeah. Basically, every time the shop opens, a new selection of weapons is available and each crew is assigned a new location. The periods were the shop's open are called drives. Our crew tends to alternate between the Marooner's Bay and the Spawning Grounds each drive."

"So tomorrow we'll be going to the Spawning Grounds," said Jayde, "Now c'mon, let's get ready for our shift."

"Alright," Hilda said.

"Oh, and one more thing. Try to remember the eggs this time; remember the handbook."

"..." Hilda nodded her head.

"We'll meet you out there." Jayde and Bryce left the room. Hilda looked at a triangle graph in Section 1.2.0 of the handbook, specifically the middle section. She sighed.

 _Later_

The Grizzco boat had arrived at the Marooner's Bay once again, now clean from any ink that was left behind before. Hilda looked at Jayde. The two nodded at each other as they and the rest of the crew were super-jumped to the Spawn Point. They were given the same weapons as last time: the Splattershot, Jet Squelcher, Flingza Roller, and Inkbrush.

" _Please not the Inkbrush. Please not the Inkbrush. Please not the Inkbrush!_ " Hilda thought. She and her crew where then given their weapons. "YES! Jet Squelcher!"

"Ha ha! I remember when you mained that one!" said Jayde as she was given the Flingza Roller. Lucas immediately fired around with the Splattershot.

"Today's quotas are 6, 7, and 9 respectively!" said Grizz, "The egg basket is ready, now do your job and GET THOSE EGGS!"

"Yes sir!" said everyone as the Salmonids started to appear.

"By the starboard!" yelled Hilda as she sent the signal, "Over here! We got a Scrapper!" Jayde and Bryce were there immediately.

"Alright! Hilda, you take out the surrounding Salmonids!" said Bryce, "I'll stop the Scrapper from up front! Jayde, get 'im from behind!"

"On it!" said Jayde as the three dropped down off the marooned ship and to the sand. Hilda defended Bryce and Jayde from the oncoming forces as they surrounded the Scrapper.

"I won't let a single one of you get close!" she yelled.

"That a girl!" said Jayde. Bryce continuously hit the Scrapper's vehicle with the Inkbrush.

" _C'mon, c'mon!_ " he thought. The Scrapper's vehicle eventually gave in to the damage, and Jayde slammed her roller on him, defeating it and spilling the Golden Eggs.

"Ha! Take that, ya motorized bug!" Jayde said. She and Bryce grabbed an egg each and headed towards a propeller. "Hilda! Grab that egg!"

"In a second!" Hilda responded. She fired at the last of the incoming Salmonids until none where left. "Alright, I'm coming!" Hilda grabbed the remaining egg and rushed to Jayde and Bryce. Hilda tried firing at the walls, but they were uninkable. "Dammit! Looks like we have to go around!"

"Nope!" said Bryce, "Fire at this propeller to send us back up."

"Huh?" Hilda looked a bit closer, noticing the four beams around them. "Oh!" Hilda fired at the propeller, sending a large pillar from the ground that raised them to the deck where the egg basket was. "Propeller pillars. Nice!" The three put their eggs in the basket.

"Hey?" said Jayde, "Where's Lucas?"

"I'm over here!" Lucas yelled as he sent a signal, "and I've got another boss on my hands!"

"Come on! Let's go!" said Bryce and he and Jayde rushed to Lucas, who was at the shoreline by the bow. Hilda hesitated, but followed them. When she got there, Hilda stopped.

"WHOA! What is that?!" she yelled. Hilda was greeted by a massive machine that looked like a snake of some sort. It had a huge metal fish head and its very long body seemed composed of several inkjets, creating what could only be described as an ink wall similar to a Splash Wall. At the very end was a Chum wearing a facemask piloting the machine.

"It's a Steel Eel!" yelled Jayde, "That's one vehicle you don't wanna get hit by! Hilda, listen! The pilot is in the back; that's where you're gonna want to fire. Once the pilot's down, the whole thing will go down with it!"

"Let's get him!" Bryce said as Lucas approached the front of the beast.

"Hey, snake!" he yelled. "Come here!" The Steel Eel chased down Lucas, who baited it into providing an opening for Bryce to splat the pilot. Immediately upon the pilot's defeat, the Eel broke down and feel apart, dropping the three Golden Eggs the crew sought.

"Let's get these back!" Jayde said.

"You guys go, I'll-" Hilda started to say.

"Hilda, no!" said Bryce, "Remember last time? You got splatted on the spot!"

"I've got this!" Lucas said, "You guys get the eggs." The other three picked up their eggs. Jayde and Bryce rushed for the basket, but Hilda hesitated again. She stood there, glaring at the Salmonids. Her teeth and fists clenched.

" _Urgh...c'mon, Hilda...focus!_ " she thought to herself. She went for the basket; it took every ounce of her strength not to charge into battle. She passed Jayde and Bryce on her way. She delivered the egg and ran straight back towards the Salmonids. She fired at the horde, her eyes filled with pure bloodlust.

"Another Steel Eel!" yelled Jayde, "By the docks!"

"He's mine." Hilda rushed to the docks. "HEY YOU!" The Salmonid pilot immediately took notice of her and the machine headed right for her. It chased Hilda around as she took out other surrounding Salmonids.

" _Huh?_ _What is she doing now?_ " Lucas thought. Hilda maneuvered her way around the Eel's head and aimed right at the pilot.

"Gotcha!" Before she could fire, she suddenly noticed the Eel had made a sudden 180 degree turn, and the head with facing right at her. "Gyah!" She dodged out of the way to avoid it from ramming her, but quickly found the Steel Eel had circled around her, trapping her around its inkjet body. "Carp! M-Maybe I can slip-" Hilda tried to slip through the inkjets, but it was just like a Splash Wall. She was splatted instantly.

Lucas face-palmed as he let out a sigh of annoyance. Jayde took down the Eel and revived Hilda. She looked at Jayde in annoyance and embarrassment.

"...Whoops."

"Hey, don't sweat it!" Jayde said, "Its body is REALLY long, and merely touching it with take you out. Here's the trick: it finds a target and pursues it relentlessly; so one of us should try to lure it somewhere so that the rest of us can take it out."

"Got it!"

"I guess I should have showed you the field guide too..."

"Don't worry. I prefer to learn as I go."

"Right...you like surprises!"

"First wave's all clear!" said Lucas.

"Exactly on quota," said Mr. Grizz, "Now get ready for more!" The four where super jumped back to the Spawn Point and given new weapons.

"Phew...Splattershot," said Hilda.

"Guys!" said Bryce, "Look!" He pointed to land emerging from the behind the stern of the ship, revealing even more fresh sand, though some of it was covered in Salmonid ink. "It's low tide!"

"Yes!" said Jayde, "That means more room to work with!" Jayde and Bryce, wielding the Inkbrush and Jet Squelcher respectively, jumped down to the newly exposed shoreline and began spreading ink around.

"Jeez...the tides here are crazy..." Hilda said as she too jumped down. Lucas came down last.

"Looks like some Salmonids are gathering by the shoreline," said Mr. Grizz, "Take 'em down!"

"There's a Steelhead to the right," yelled Lucas.

"And a Stinger to the left!" said Hilda.

"Alright!" Jayde said, "Hilda and Bryce! You've got shooters! Take down the Steelhead!"

"No problem!" said Hilda.

"Count on it!" Bryce added.

"Lucas, you and I can take out the Stinger!"

"Right!" Lucas said as he rushed for the Stinger alongside Jayde, and Bryce and Hilda rushed for the Steelhead.

"I'll take on these guys surrounding him!" Hilda suggested.

"No, Hilda," said Bryce, "Think. I know you hate Salmonids, but try to repress those feelings for a bit. You go after the Steelhead! Then we'll take out the rest of these guys together."

"..." Hilda took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do it."

"Good luck!" Bryce charged at the incoming horde while Hilda headed for the Steelhead. She aimed at the beast's head, waiting for it to charge its bomb.

"Come on, big boy...Come o-" Hilda suddenly heard the sound of a splat, and looked to see that Bryce had been splatted by the horde, and now it was heading straight for her. "Why you little-!" Hilda rushed at them, shooting them down one by one, but she too was overwhelmed and ended up splatted herself.

Her lifesaver appeared, and eventually she and Bryce where next to each other in their respective lifesavers. "Dammit!" Hilda exclaimed. "Now what?!" Suddenly, a huge bullet of ink, similar to a Blaster's projectile, landed and splatted part of the horde. Hilda then saw to her surprise and shock, Jayde approach, airborne with an Inkjet special weapon.

"Eat this, freaks!" she yelled as she fired at the incoming Salmonid forces. Lucas also arrived and revived Bryce and Hilda.

"Thanks, Lucas!" said Bryce.

"Welcome," he replied. Hilda only glared away from him. Jayde managed to take out the Steelhead with one last blast from her Inkjet Blaster, and was then launched back to the basket, where she had lifted off.

"Quick! Grab those eggs!" Bryce said. Hilda, Bryce, and Lucas each grabbed an egg and put them in the basket, which already had three other eggs from the Stinger that Jayde and Lucas fought earlier.

"Holy carp!" said Hilda, "I completely forgot we had special weapons!"

"I think we all did," said Jayde, "But remember, we've only got two per shift! Use them wisely! Which one do you have?"

"I...wasn't told."

Jayde inspected the silver drink packages, the containers of the specials, on Hilda's hat. "Looks like you got Splashdown!"

"Nice!"

"Guys!" yelled Bryce, "There's a Drizzler coming!"

"Aw man!" Jayde said, annoyed, "Not this guy!"

"Drizzler?" Hilda asked.

"Up there!" Jayde pointed to what appeared to be a Chum hanging onto a metal umbrella floating in the air.

"What the hell?! Is that...an armored umbrella?"

"Everyone! Head for him!" Bryce ordered. The crew ran at the Drizzler as it landed by the edge of the shore, using its umbrella as a shield. Hilda fired at it.

"Dammit...it's not very effective..."

"Hold on!" said Jayde. A scope of some sort appeared on top of the umbrella, aimed eastward towards Bryce. A few seconds later, it fired a missile into the air. The recoil caused the Drizzler to flip upside-down, exposing it.

"It's exposed! GET HIM!" yelled Bryce as he, Jayde, and Lucas attacked it.

"Uh, guys?" said Hilda, "What about the missile?" She looked at the missile as it launched itself upwards and formed a huge green cloud in the sky. "Oh no..." The cloud began to pour green ink rain like an Ink Storm, one of the drops landing in Hilda's eye. "GAH! My eye! There's ink in my eye!"

"Dive into your ink!" Bryce said as the Drizzler recovered and shielded itself again. Hilda dove into a small puddle of orange ink. She reemerged seconds later.

"Ah...much better."

"Yeah, but that damn Drizzler's still alive!" Lucas exclaimed, "It's going to cause a whole lot of trouble if we just let it do its business!"

"Hilda!" Jayde said, "You come with me! We'll deal with the Drizzler! Bryce! Lucas! You take the other incoming Salmonids!"

"Got it! Bryce said as he and Lucas rushed for the incoming hordes. Hilda followed Jayde towards the Drizzler. Hilda had to force herself not to look at the Salmonids, or she'd have the urge to run at them again.

"Alright, Hilda," said Jayde, "This guy's umbrella is just as strong as the Steelhead's scales. When it fires its missile, it's exposed. So let loose on him."

"Got it!" Hilda replied.

"Or..."

"Huh?"

"You could fire its missile right back at him."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. Pay attention to the direction he launches his missile in, and fire at it in the opposite direction."

"I think I know the rest!" Hilda backed up and aimed her weapon in the Drizzler's direction. The umbrella's scope appeared, and pointed towards Hilda. She adjusted he position accordingly. " _If I shoot it in just the right spot at just the right time..._ "

The Drizzler fired its missile in Hilda's direction. " _NOW!_ " She fired at the missile, knocking it right out of the air at the Drizzler, splatting it instantly and dropping its Golden Eggs. "Yes! Super effective!"

"Let's get these back to the basket!" Jayde and Hilda grabbed an egg each and rushed for the basket. They met with Bryce and Lucas, who also had eggs in tow. They all placed their eggs in the basket.

"That's ten eggs out of seven," said Bryce, "I think we can relax until the next wave."

"But...this wave is only three more seconds..." said Lucas.

"Exactly!"

"Ha ha ha!" said Mr. Grizz, "Nice. But brace yourselves, workers! We're getting high Salmonid readings for the final wave!"

"Perfect!" said Hilda, "Bring it on!" The four where then super-jumped back to the Spawn Point. Hilda received the Flingza Roller. " _THANK. COD._ "

"Looks like the tide's still low," said Jayde, holding the Inkbrush.

Hilda looked to the sky. There was suddenly a different feel to the air...a more dangerous feel. The sky suddenly looked slightly darker, as if a group of thin clouds suddenly appeared. "Uh...what's going on?"

"Oh no..." said Bryce, holding the Splattershot, "If it's low tide...then-"

Suddenly, three cannons appeared out of the ground, one on the left of the shore, one on the right, and one on the stern of the old ship right where Hilda was. "What the-?!"

"It's a Cohock Charge!"

"Carp..." said Jayde. "Hilda! We need you to operate that cannon to help take down the Cohocks that spawn!"

Hilda smiled. "You got it!"

"Here they come!" said Mr. Grizz, "Get movin'!"

Hilda hopped in the cannon and took aim at the approaching Cohock army. There were dozens of them appearing from the shoreline, along with a Scrapper and a Steelhead. "Time to lay the splatdown!" Hilda opened fire, firing one missile at a time. Each missile took down around five to seven Cohocks at once. She fired as many as she could, taking down as much of the army as possible. " _This is great!_ " She fired one missile at the Steelhead as it was charging, splatting it, and one more at the Scrapper to stop it in its tracks. But when she tried to fire another one, her ink had run out. "Wha-? Dammit..."

"Hey Hilda!" yelled Bryce, "Get down here!"

"Alright!" She turned into squid form, landing in her ink and rushed over to Jayde and Bryce while refueling in the process.

"Here's the plan: Me and Jayde have got the eggs. Lucas, you get the cannon over there! Hilda, I want you to help him take down the Salmonids."

"Huh?!" said Lucas.

"Wait, what?! I have to work with him?!" Hilda exclaimed.

"Yeah, so?"

Bryce watched as Hilda glared at Lucas, and Lucas glared back. "Oi...Look, focus on getting rid of the Salmonids and taking down the bosses, okay?"

"...Fine," Hilda said coldly. She slammed her roller down and charged at the incoming army of Cohocks.

" _What the-?!_ " Lucas thought, " _This girl's crazy!_ " He fired the cannon at the incoming horde, aiding Hilda to get a Steel Eel on its way onto the shore.

" _Alright...let's try this again..._ " Hilda thought, remembering her earlier encounter with a Steel Eel. She lured it away from the shoreline to give herself more room. " _Hmm...Let's see..._ " She examined her situation. " _Hey...aren't we provided sub-weapons, too?_ " She checked, and pulled out a Splat Bomb. " _Yes! Maybe I can roll this behind him to deal some extra damage..._ "

"What is she doing over there?!" Lucas said to himself as he fired at some last few Cohocks coming from the right shoreline. Hilda evaded the Steel Eel, taking care to avoid a repeat of last time. She turned around and rolled her Splat Bomb towards the rear of the Eel, and it exploded right beside the pilot as she planned. He stopped for a second to analyze what just happened.

"Yeah!" Hilda seized the opportunity and prepared to attack. However, Lucas arrived out of nowhere and struck down the pilot himself. The Golden Eggs were dropped. "HEY! That was my kill!"

"Well, unlike you," said Lucas, "I'm just trying to do my job! Stop mindlessly killing every Salmonid that comes into your line of vision!"

"WHAT?! I was fighting a BOSS SALMONID...THEY drop the Golden Eggs we-"

"Quiet! Look, I-...J-Just...Stop wasting time and get the eggs to the basket!" He grabbed an egg and ran for the basket. Hilda was furious. Her fists were heavily clenched and her teeth started to grind. She tried her best to calm down as she grabbed an egg.

" _You're lucky this isn't Ranked Battles, bud,_ " Hilda thought, " _Otherwise I'd splat you right now..."_

Meanwhile, Jayde and Bryce were dealing with their own problems. Bryce, operating the cannon on the left side of the shoreline, was firing at dozens and dozens of incoming Cohocks. Jayde tried desperately to take out the ones he missed, but a nearby Drizzler guarded behind the army was making it difficult.

" _Dammit!_ " Bryce thought, " _There's why too many of 'em!_ "

"Bryce! They just keep coming!" Jayde yelled.

"I'm doing what I can! _Ugh...where the hell are Lucas and Hilda, already?! They should be done with the other Cohocks by now..."_

"Ugh! How many more are th- BRYCE! Look out!"

"What?" Bryce was suddenly knocked out of the cannon by a Cohock. "GAH!" Bryce splatted it with the Jet Squelcher and then ran back to Jayde to help her out.

"Why didn't you go back to the cannon?!"

"'Cause I'm gonna use this! BOMB LAUNCHER!" Bryce activated his special weapon and threw bomb after bomb after bomb, splatting as many Cohocks as he could. Only 30 seconds remained on the timer. When Bryce's bomb rush ran out, there were still lots of Cohocks around him and Jayde. Making matters worse, the Drizzler had just launched another missile and it was about to rain ink. "Carp...that was my only one!"

"What do you mean?!"

"I was splatted just as I used my other one!"

"Oh no... Alright, come on! We can still do this! Just gotta take down that Drizzler!"

"How? He's guarded by-"

"Did someone order a Splashdown?!" yelled a voice. It was Hilda. She rushed right into the crowd of the Cohocks and activated her special weapon jumping high into the air. She then came down like a meteor, splatting the surrounding Cohocks and even the Drizzler, exposed from the recoil of its missile launch.

"Hilda!" said Jayde. Bryce immediately headed for a Golden Egg and rushed back to the basket, and Lucas did the same. Jayde wrapped her arm around Hilda. "YEAH! That a girl! Ha ha!"

"Hehe," said Hilda, "Thanks..."

"Alright, that's enough for now!" said Mr. Grizz, "I think that's the last of 'em. Let's get you back to the boat."

 _Several Minutes Later..._

"Phew...that was rough," Bryce said, the crew not on the boat heading for Inkopolis.

"No kidding," Hilda said, "My heart's still going a mile a minute."

"Let's see here...You got 27 eggs today," said Mr. Grizz, "Nice haul."

"Really?" said Jayde, "That's it? That's all you've got to say?"

"Hmph."

"Well," said Bryce, "At least we did it." He then looked over to Lucas, sitting by himself with his face in his hand. " _Why does he look so worked up?_ "

Hilda looked at Lucas for a second, but then immediately looked away in anger. Jayde walked up to her.

"Look, Hilda," said Jayde, "Lucas isn't mad at you. He's worried about you."

"...What."

"He's rough on rookies because he doesn't want them to make any stupid mistakes."

"But I haven't made any!"

"First of all, you kinda have. And that's fine. Second, you have one big problem. You're focusing too much on the Salmonids themselves."

"Isn't the whole point to splat as many as possible?!"

"Yes, but you need to remember those Golden Eggs, too. You're letting your hatred for these guys cloud the objective. That's what Lucas was trying to say."

"But-..." Hilda paused. She thought back to the two previous shifts. There was silence for a minute. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh..."

"Look, teamwork is essential on this job. It's not all about you, or them. We need to work as what we are: a crew. Lucas is just trying to show you that. He just...doesn't really know how. Okay?"

Hilda looked at Lucas. He then looked back. He didn't glare this time.

"...Sorry," he said softly, but loud enough for Hilda to hear it.

Hilda paused for a few seconds. "It's...fine." The crew was silent for the rest of the trip.


	5. Chapter 5: Crewmates

_The next day..._

"I've checked your data from the past few days, and you've all shown marvelous work so far," said Mr. Grizz over his wooden statue radio, "You've managed to achieve an 86% success rate, one of the highest I've seen."

"Thank you kindly," said Bryce. The four Inklings were gathered around the small wooden statue.

"Ever since Hilda joined in, from what I've seen, your performance has been even more substantial. You've gotten through quite a lot in those two shifts."

"Heh heh..." Hilda said.

"However, Hilda. Your Golden Egg count? It is...disappointing." Hilda's smirk disappeared. "As much of a great worker as you are, you're not quite living up to standards, here."

"I'm...aware of that."

"Ah, don't feel bad for yourself, kid. You just need a little more experience out there. It's not unusual for first-timers to be below expectations...though it would be nice. Jayde?"

"Yes sir?" Jayde answered.

"I want you to monitor Hilda. If what ya told me yesterday was true, you should know each other like the back of your hands. Therefore, I think you would be best suited for teachin' her the rest of the ropes."

"Understood."

"Bryce. Lucas. You two should try your best to help Hilda as well."

"Count at it!" Bryce said.

"No problem." Lucas said.

"Hilda, don't take this the wrong way. You're an incredible worker, and your talent is just what I'm looking for. Ya just...need some guidance for now."

"I understand."

"Alright, that's enough slacking! GET TO WORK!" Bryce and Lucas headed to the docks for the boat. Hilda and Jayde followed.

"Hilda," said Jayde as she put her hand on Hilda's shoulder, "Remember what I told you yesterday. Try to think before you charge into battle, alright?"

"Got it." Hilda said.

"And remember, if things get rough, call us over. We'll be there faster than you can say, 'Woomy!'"

"Noted."

Jayde smiled. "Good. Just know that you can still take out Salmonids, we are harvesting Power Eggs after all, but the Golden Eggs are of utmost importance. Now c'mon, let's get going."

"I'll be out there in a second."

"Alright." Jayde walked out to the docks.

Hilda stood there by herself, and began to think. She sat down on one of the coolers. " _Okay..._ " she thought, " _It's been two shifts and so far I haven't seen the guy I'm lookin' for. Ugh...those damn-_ " She looked at her hand as it slowly clenched into a fist. Jayde's words from yesterday repeated themselves: ' _We need to work as what we are: a crew._ ' Hilda took a deep breath. " _Right...I...I have to focus. There's more than just killing Salmonids now._ " She unclenched her fist and put her hand on her stomach. " _I-It'll have to wait. For now...I need to focus on the job._ "

Hilda stood up, and began walking towards the docks. " _After all...I did have to be saved a few times back there...Jayde was right. It's not all about me. I have to work_ _with_ _my crewmates. I understand that now. But when the time does come...I'll be sure to rip that silver monster apart!_ "

 _Later..._

The boat rushed towards the Spawning Grounds, as it started to come into view. Hilda looked around. The air already had that dangerous feel to it she felt just before the Cohock Charge. She immediately recognized it and a slight feeling of dread began to creep up on her.

" _Carp...Are we gonna have another charge?_ " Hilda thought to herself.

"Quotas today are 8, 9, and 11!" said Mr. Grizz, "Time to get moving! You're almost there!" The boat came to a stop shortly after.

"The Spawning Grounds," said Bryce.

"Alright," said Jayde, "Let's do this!" The four were super-jumped to the Spawn Point of the Spawning Grounds.

" _Wait...what are our weapons again?_ " Hilda thought. She was given her weapon shortly after. "Oh...Carbon Roller!"

"I got the .52 Gal!" Jayde said.

"Dualie Squelchers!" said Lucas.

"What about you, Bryce?"

"I got...this...thing," he said.

"That's a Goo Tuber. It's a charger."

"What?!"

"Hey," said Hilda, "We got your back." Jayde and Lucas looked at her.

" _Did_ _she_ _just say that?_ " Lucas thought.

"Alright, everyone!" Jayde yelled, "Let's g-" Suddenly, a breeze started up, followed by thick fog rolling in. "Gah! What th- Uh oh..."

"What's happening?!" said Hilda.

"Fog..." said Lucas.

"Fog?! How are we supposed to know where the enemy's coming from if we can't see more than three feet ahead of us?"

"Everyone! Spread out!" said Jayde, "When you see a Boss, sound the alarm immediately!"

"Got it!" everyone said as they ran in different directions. Hilda went towards the north, by the grated platforms.

"C'mon, c'mon!" she said to herself. She suddenly spotted a group of Salmonids rise to the surface, led by a Steelhead. "Over here!" Hilda yelled as she sent the signal and rushed at the incoming forces. "Steelhead! Over-" Her comrades were there before she even finished. " _Whoa..._ "

"Don't just stand there, Hilda!" Jayde said, "Bring the pain!"

"Not a problem!" Hilda unloaded on the Salmonid forces, flattening them with her Carbon Roller. " _Hmm...Looks like my roller's not gonna do much on him..._ "

"I got him!" yelled Bryce from one of the stone pillars. He aimed the Goo Tuber at the Steelhead as he charged up his weapon. When he fired at the bomb, he took down the Steelhead, but the recoil nearly knocked him over as well. "WAAA! Whoa...okay...Guess that's what happens when you haven't used a Charger before..."

"Nice shot, Bryce!" Jayde yelled as she, Hilda, and Lucas grabbed Golden Eggs and rushed for the basket.

"Uh...Thanks!" Once the three had delivered their eggs, they again split up to find more bosses.

"Hey," said Jayde to Hilda, "Let's stay close. Grizz did tell me to monitor you, after all."

"But, what about the fog?" said Hilda.

"Bryce and Lucas are here too, remember? They're looking for bosses too."

"...Alright. Let's go." Hilda and Jayde looked around for bosses, and came across a horde of normal Salmonid soldiers. They began to take them down together, shooting down Salmonid after Salmonid. A signal was suddenly received by the two Inklings. It was from Lucas.

"Lucas must've found another boss!" Jayde said, "Let's go!" Jayde rushed ahead, but Hilda again hesitated. This time, it was only for a moment. Hilda rushed past Jayde, nearly bumping into her in the process.

"Dammit..." Lucas said as he had a Drizzler on his hands by the docks. Bryce was busy trying to take down the surrounding Salmonids. " _If only these damn Chums would get out of the way, I could-_ " Suddenly, Hilda jumped out of the ink and slammed the Drizzler with her Carbon Roller, finishing it off.

"Yes!" Hilda said as she rushed to grab an egg.

"Yeah! You go, Hilda!" Jayde cheered.

"Help me!" yelled Bryce, now splatted.

"I'm comin', Bryce!" Jayde said as she threw a Splat Bomb at the horde of Chums and Smallfries surrounding him, taking them out and reviving Bryce. Hilda took down the remaining forces. She, Jayde, and Bryce ran with their eggs in tow. Lucas stood there for a moment, flabbergasted, before heading out to find more.

"Alright!" Hilda said as she and her comrades placed the eggs in the basket, "That's six down, two to go."

"Ugh...The fog's getting worse!" said Jayde.

"You're right...I can't see anything not within a foot of me!"

"We should stay close," said Bryce.

"Good idea," said Lucas as he arrived. The four scavenged the area, taking care to not trip or bump over anything in the low visibility.

"...Hey, what's that?" Hilda said as something swam in a green ink trail that it was continuously making, even plowing through the Inklings' ink, heading straight for them. It looked like the buoy of a fishing rod, colored red and yellow.

"OH CARP!" said Bryce, "Everyone! Out of the way!"

"Huh?! Why?! What is it?!" Suddenly, the bouy stopped right in front of Hilda, and a faint glowing ring appeared around it.

"HILDA!" Jayde yelled as she yanked Hilda away by her arm, just in time to avoid an attack. The little buoy suddenly became a massive, pink, shark-like beast. It opened its powerful jaw wide and snapped it shut in a fraction of a second. Hilda was wide-eyed as the beast emerged and she fell to the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

"Maws!" said Bryce as it submerged itself back into the ink. "Stay back!" Bryce lured the Maws away from the rest of the crew as Jayde tended to Hilda to Lucas went to aid Bryce. He waited for the ring to appear again. "Now, Lucas!" yelled Bryce as the ring appeared.

"Take this!" Lucas yelled as he threw a Splat Bomb, which the Maws consumed. The bomb exploded inside the Maws' mouth, splatting it instantly.

"Yes!" Bryce and Lucas each grabbed an egg and ran to the basket.

"Jayde?" Hilda said as Jayde helped her up, "What was that?!"

"That...was a Maws," said Jayde, "The Salmonid Shark, as it's also called. You can shoot it down, but it's pretty durable. So the best thing to do is trick it into eating a Splat Bomb, got it?"

"Y-Yeah..." Hilda tried to steady herself. For the first time on the job, something had truly scared her. She quickly tried to shake it off.

"Let's get this last egg to the basket."

"Okay." Hilda and Jayde rushed to the basket, meeting with Bryce and Lucas. They delivered the egg to the basket, totaling nine eggs.

"Hilda?" said Bryce, noticing Hilda's expression, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." she replied, still a tad uneasy, "That Maws just...came out of nowhere."

"Take it easy if you have to, kid," said Mr. Grizz. You can rest for a few seconds. The wave's almost over."

"Thanks. _Jeez...that scared the ink outta me...Well, at least I know what to expect now._ " She took a deep breath. "I...think I'm better."

"Good, 'cause it's about to hit Wave 2." The four returned to the Spawn Point as the fog cleared up, and were reassigned weapons.

"Dualie Squelchers! Score!"

"I got the Goo Tuber this time..." said Jayde.

".52 Gal is mine," said Lucas.

"Yes! My ol' main weapon!" said Bryce, holding the Carbon Roller.

"You main the Carbon Roller?" said Hilda.

"Yep. Quite a bit of my family mains rollers."

"Do they, now?"

"Quit chit-chatting!" ordered Mr. Grizz, "There's Boss Salmonids afoot! DO YOUR JOB!" The four Inklings moved out. They saw a number of Salmonids approach from the shoreline, and they rushed over.

"Where's the boss?!" said Jayde.

"Over there! It's another Maws!" yelled Bryce.

" _Another one?_ " Hilda thought. Sure enough, she saw a second Maws coming in their direction. " _...Alright, you._ Jayde! You and I will take the Maws!"

"Are you sure?" Jayde said.

"One hundred percent!"

"Alright! Bryce! Lucas! Take out the rest!"

"Got it!" the two said simultaneously. Hilda and Jayde ran for the Maws. The beast decided to chase down Jayde.

"Alright ya ugly shark," Hilda said she took out and readied a Splat Bomb. Jayde eventually managed to lure it into place as the ring appeared. Hilda threw the bomb at the buoy, and the Maws once again ate it and was splatted on the spot. "YES! Nice!" She and Jayde grabbed eggs and headed for the basket. Bryce came along later with the third egg as Jayde and Hilda rushed back to the shoreline to aid Lucas. Hilda unloaded, using the Dualie Squelchers to fire at two targets at once.

Suddenly, the boss alarm sounded again. Hilda spotted a Steel Eel appear at the docks alongside a number of Cohocks and Smallfries. "Over there!" she yelled, "There's a Steel Eel!"

"Let's head over there!" said Bryce.

"I'll take what little remains of this horde over here!" said Lucas, "You three take on the Steel Eel!"

"Are you sure you can handle them by yourself?"

"I'm sure! Now go!"

"Alright. Then let's go, guys! Erm...I mean, girls!"

"Pfft," said Hilda as she, Bryce, and Jayde headed for the Steel Eel. She and Jayde couldn't help but giggle. The three surrounded the Steel Eel, with Jayde acting as bait and Bryce and Hilda aiming at the pilot.

"Ready...aim..." Bryce said, "Fire!" Hilda fired at the pilot with the Squelchers and Bryce attacked with his roller, quickly splatting the Steel Eel.

"Alright!" Hilda and Bryce each grabbed an egg, and Bryce rushed away. But before Hilda could start heading for the egg basket, she noticed Jayde. "JAYDE! Behind you! There's another-"

"Huh?" Jayde started to say, but she was splatted before she could finish by a second Steel Eel.

"Carp!" Hilda looked around; she noticed the Steel Eel heading right for her. "Whoa!" She tried to run away, but got stuck in Salmonid ink. "Ugh?! No! No! No! Not again!" She tried to fire ink at her feet, but her ink was depleted from the previous Steel Eel fight. " _Oh, come on! Of course it runs out now!_ " She signaled for help. "Hey! I need some help over here! NOW!" The Steel Eel rushed closer and closer towards her. Lucas suddenly appeared, and rushed past Hilda towards the Eel. "Lucas?!"

Lucas jumped high into the air, landing on the Steel Eel's massive head. The machine slowed a little as the pilot was shocked by the sudden move. Lucas ran across the tops of the inkjets, jumping off the end and ending the pilot with a mighty Splashdown. The machine was only inches away from hitting Hilda when it broke down and came to a stop. "Wha-?"

"Hey!" said Lucas as he grabbed an egg, "Ya know what they say! One good save deserves another!"

"Alright! Lucas!" yelled Bryce as he returned and freed Hilda from the ink.

"Uhh...a little help?!" Jayde said from her Lifesaver as it bumped into Lucas's foot.

"Whoop!" Lucas said as he revived Jayde.

Hilda was flabbergasted for a second. But her stunned face quickly turned into a determined smile. "Right on!" she shouted.

"Hey!" Bryce yelled, pointing a Salmonid by the eggs, "That Snatcher is trying to take those eggs back!"

"Whoops! I got him." Hilda sneaked through her ink, and surprised the Snatcher on its way to the see. "Those don't belong to you, I'm afraid." She then shot it down. "C'mon! Let's get these to the basket!" The crew then went and delivered the six eggs to the basket, ending the second wave.

"Nice!" said Bryce.

"I think I finally get it, now!" Hilda said.

"You got it!" said Jayde, "This job isn't easy, but as long we stick together we can handle anything that comes at us!"

"We stand not as four, but as one!" said Lucas.

"Yeah!"

"Alright," said Mr. Grizz, "get ready for round 3!" The four were super-jumped to the Spawn Point and again reassigned weapons.

"Oh no..." said Hilda, "Goo Tuber..."

"Hey, just like you said," said Bryce, wielding the Dualie Squelchers, "We've got each other's backs! You have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, ditto!" said Jayde, wielding the .52 Gal.

"Wait a second..." said Lucas, holding the Carbon Roller, "The air..."

" _Again...?!_ " Hilda thought, "Yeah, I feel it, too."

"What now?" said Jayde. Suddenly, a laser pointer appeared, locked on Jayde. Everyone except Hilda was wide-eyed.

"OH...NO..." said Bryce.

"What is it?" Hilda asked.

"It's a-" Suddenly, large vehicle emerged from the sea. It was a giant kettle barbecue grill, with waterfalls of green ink leaking from inside. A bright, pink Salmonid behind was visible from the back. It's laser was pointed right at Jayde, and it rapidly advanced towards her, followed by lots of Smallfries.

"GRILLER!" everyone except Hilda yelled.

"Griller?! What?!" Hilda said.

"Jayde, run! RUN!" yelled Lucas. Jayde quickly made a break for it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's going on?!"

"That thing over there?!" Bryce said, pointing at the Griller, "THAT is one of the most dangerous things they've got! One touch from it and you're as good as fried!"

"Okay listen!" Lucas said, "That pink Salmonid on the back? That's the weak point! It's the only way to stop the Griller! But that thing will pick a random target and pursue it like mad! So whoever's at the end of its pointer should RUN."

"Then what do we do?!" Hilda said.

"Shoot the weak point!" said Bryce "That's reveal more weak points and stop the Griller in its tracks! Once that happens, FIRE LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW!

"Guys!" yelled Jayde, "I need help! NOW!"

"C'mon! Let's go!" The three rushed at the Griller very cautiously. "Jayde, lure it so it's facing away from us!"

"Gah! What with all the Smallfries?!" said Hilda.

"They're here to slow us down! They're second priority!" Bryce opened fire at the Griller's exposed weakness. Eventually, the Griller halted and three more pink Salmonids appeared, which all four rotating around the rim of the vehicle. "NOW, FIRE! FIRE!" All four Inklings attacked the Griller at once.

"Ugh...This thing is super hard to use..." Hilda thought as she fired the Goo Tuber over and over. Eventually, the crew destroyed the Griller.

"Hurry! Get the eggs before the next one shows up!" yelled Jayde. She, Hilda, and Bryce grabbed Golden Eggs and ran for it. Lucas, however, was targeted by the next Griller.

"Carp!" Lucas said as he ran away from the vehicle.

"Everyone! Help him!" said Bryce. He, Hilda, and Jayde rushed over, hoping to give him a hand in taking down the Griller.

"Bryce!" yelled Jayde, "Look out!"

"Huh?" The Griller chasing Lucas ran right into Bryce, splatting him.

"Oh no!" said Hilda, "Well, let's-"

"Looks like there are two Grillers on you now!" said Mr. Grizz.

"What?!" Jayde said. She noticed another laser pointed at her. "Uh oh!" Suddenly, they heard the sound of Lucas getting splatted as well. A pointer was now right on Hilda.

"Uhh?! Now what?!" said Hilda in a panic.

"L-Let's try to revive the others!"

"But Lucas is over there and the way to Bryce is blocked by all these Smallfries!"

"RUN!" yelled Bruce as the Grillers lurked ever closer.

"Yeah, let's just run!" Jayde said. She and Hilda made a break for it, going in different directions to try and lose the Grillers.

"Carp! Carp! Carp! CARP! CARP!" Hilda yelled. She didn't know what to do, and soon heard the sound of Jayde splatting as well. "UHHHH...?!" With two pointers on her, Hilda ran in a random direction. Normally, she would be more than happy to rush at a Salmonid no matter the strength, but these were something else. They were powerful vehicles, possibly even more so than the actual Boss Salmonids.

Eventually, Hilda found herself running on one of the docks. She stopped just before she fell into the water. "OH NO..." Hilda turned around, only to find the exit was blocked by one of the Grillers, with Smallfries climbing around it and rushing at her as well. She was cornered. Trapped. "No, no, no! Dammit! How am I supposed t-?!"

There was no escape. Hilda was splatted before anything else could occur.

"THAT'S A WRAP!" said Mr. Grizz, "Let's get y'all to the boat before something even worse happens." The four Inklings, in their lifesavers, were immediately sent back to the boat via super jump. Upon landing, all four were revived.

"Oh...my head..." said Bryce, lying on the floor of ship along with the others.

"What happened?" said Jayde.

"We...lost..." said Hilda.

"Ugh...?"

"Damn Grillers!" Lucas said angrily as he slammed the floor.

"Oh..." The four Inklings sat up as the boat began to depart.

"Oh carp...I can't believe we failed..." said Hilda.

"Don't sweat it," said Bryce, "It happens. Doesn't change anything."

"Yeah," said Jayde, "Not time those stupid Grillers show up, we'll get some nice, sweet revenge."

"Urgh...yeah," said Lucas. Hilda looked down, as if reminded of something.

Jayde put her arm around Hilda's shoulders. "I'm proud of you, Hilda."

"Huh?" Hilda said.

"You did it. You learned how to be a crewmate."

"...I don't get it..."

"You basically learned that team is key," said Lucas.

"Hilda," Jayde continued, "We may not always win, but we still have each other. That's what matters. We'll try again next shift."

"No," Hilda said.

"Huh?"

"I don't know about you guys, but I need a break."

"I think we could all use one after that," said Bryce.

"Y'all did well out there up until that Griller part," said Mr. Grizz, "Not the best, but pretty good. Don't worry. Your pay grade won't be affected by this."

"Thanks," said Hilda.

"Hey, Hilda?" said Bryce.

"Yeah?"

"You up for a Turf War once we get back?"

"Hey!" said Jayde, "If you're goin' on a Turf War, then so am I!"

"Count me in, too," said Lucas.

"Alright, then!" said Bryce, "Private Battle, just the four of us! What do ya say?"

"...Yeah," said Hilda, "That would be a perfect break...I haven't been to the Deca Tower since I was hired!"

"Maybe we'll wait until tomorrow for more Salmon hunting," said Jayde, "The weapons may be better suited for Grillers then."

"I agree," said Lucas.

"Yeah," Hilda said, "Let's do some old-fashioned Turf War for today. But I warn you guys: I'm quite a competitive player! Hehe..."


	6. Chapter 6: Rematch at the Bay

"Dammit!" said Bryce, "I almost had you!"

"Yeah, but ya didn't get me!" said Hilda. The four Inklings were walking in the Square as the sun began to set, having finished their chain of Turf War battles. Most Inklings had already gone home by this time, making the plaza seem much less lively than usual.

"Jeez though...your team won a good 75% of the time!"

"I must say," said Lucas, "You're very good at this."

"Thank you."

"So..." said Jayde, "Now that we're done, we should probably head home, huh?"

"Yeah. It's gettin' dark," said Bryce.

"I agree," said Hilda, "We could all use some rest. After all, we're goin' against a Griller tomorrow."

"Well, it's possible," said Lucas, "Not likely, but possible."

"But if those giant cookers think they can get us again," said Jayde, "they've got another thing coming!"

"Yeah!" said Hilda, "Next time, I'll give it all I got. I won't let a single one get away!"

"That's the spirit!" Jayde said as she playfully hit Hilda's back.

"Ow! Hehe..."

"Alright, let's get some rest," said Bryce, "Big day tomorrow!"

"Alright then," said Jayde, "I'll see you all tomorrow at work!"

"Cya!" said Hilda.

"Right back at ya!" said Bryce.

"Night everyone," said Lucas. The four then went their separate ways towards their homes. Along her way, Hilda looked up at the sky.

" _Those Grillers..._ "she thought, remembering the earlier crew wipe," _They're something else...Okay, I can't just rush at 'em like anything else. I'll have to rely on my crewmates to get it done_." She looked at her hand and clenched her fist. " _I will-...No...WE will crush them..._ "

 _Later the Next Day..._

The boat had arrived in the restricted area, headed for the Marooner's Bay. The crew were preparing for their launch onto the bay, adjusting their uniforms and examining a map of the area.

"Okay...so the Grillers could appear here...here...maybe there, too," said Jayde, pointing to various spots on the map. "And we may get some Stingers along here..."

"Scrappers like to show up at the docks," said Bryce.

"True that!"

"Maybe one of us should keep an eye on the back of the ship," said Hilda, "Just in case the tides change again."

"I really hope that if the Grillers DO show up again," said Lucas, "the tide isn't high."

"Oh yeah. That would be a nightmare," Jayde said.

"Well," said Hilda, standing up, "Let's see what the weapons are."

"Thank goodness Mr. Grizz decided to start giving us this report paper thing," Bryce said as he grabbed a paper listing the shift details. It included the location, time, estimated Salmonid numbers, provided weapons, and egg quotas. "Egg quotas are the same as yesterday: 8, 9, and 11. Looks like today's selections are the Slosher, the Aerospray MG, the Dapple Dualies, and the Splat Roller."

"Oh, thank cod!" said Jayde, "That's a good set."

"Kinda low-range, though," said Hilda, "Especially the Splat Roller and the Dapple Dualies. The latter isn't really gonna do much against the Steelheads."

"Good call!" said Lucas, "I think we should try to spread out a little, while staying close enough to come to each other's aid. Our lower range weapons mean we may need to get up close and personal. Keep your guard up."

"Right," everyone said.

"Time to get off!" said Mr. Grizz, "NOW GET MOVIN'!" The four Inklings were launched onto the bay. When they landed, they were provided with their weapons.

"Alright, Slosher." Hilda said. Jayde received the Dapple Dualies, Bryce got the Aerospray MG, and Lucas got the Splat Roller.

"Let's do this!" said Jayde. The four proceeded to spray as much ink around the ground as possible.

"Let's see what we'll come across today," said Bryce as the boss alarm sounded.

"There's a Stinger over by the docks!" yelled Jayde.

"What?" said Bryce, "But there's a Scrapper over here by the starboard shore, too! Lucas and I will take the Scrapper! You two take on the Stinger!"

"On it!" Hilda and Jayde said simultaneously as they rushed for the Stinger, now surrounded by various Salmonid forces.

"Hey Hilda?" said Jayde, "Do you mind takin' down the guys around this Stinger so I can take him out?"

"No problem!" Hilda said as she started taking down Salmonids. " _Finally, an excuse to go nuts on these guys!_ " She and Jayde eventually managed to take down the horde and the Stinger. "Do you think we'll be able to get all three eggs back with Bryce and Lucas taking care of the Scrapper?"

"Maybe. But, we can still reach the quota if we don't. It's only one egg."

"What? But I thought-"

"Sometimes it's better to leave an egg than risk being splatted."

"...Right." Hilda and Jayde rushed for the basket with their eggs in tow. When they reached it, they found Bryce and Lucas picking up their own eggs and taking them to the basket as well. They all placed the eggs in.

"I'll see if I can get that one we missed." Jayde rushed back.

"Do you guys need help?" Hilda asked Bryce and Lucas.

"Yeah, can you grab that last egg for us?" said Bryce.

"Sure!" Hilda jumped off the rusted ship to the beach below to grab the last egg from the Scrapper. But as she picked it up, she heard something from behind her. It sounded like inkjets and metal. " _Let me guess. Steel Eel?_ " Her guess was right as she looked behind her and dodged the incoming machine. " _Dammit!_ Hey! I could use some help down here!"

"On my way!" said Bryce. He aimed from the deck fire at the Eel from above. " _Damn...this thing's range isn't the best in the world. I can only hit him a little bit...Guess I'll just jump d-_ " A signal was suddenly sent from the docks. It was Jayde. "Carp!"

"I'll get her," said Lucas as he rushed for the docks.

" _Hmm...maybe I can lure him in such a way that I can splat him myself..._ Bryce! Go help Jayde! I can handle this for a little bit!"

"Uh...Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

"Alright. Good luck!" Bryce rushed to Jayde while Hilda rushed towards the bow of the ship, going for higher ground.

" _Now if I just turn here..._ " Hilda made a sudden U-turn up one of the ramps. She then jumped back down behind the Steel Eel and threw ink at it with the Slosher, splatting it. " _Haha! Success!_ " She sent a signal to her crewmates, and Lucas came running over. "Huh? Where are Bryce and Jayde?"

"Dealing with a boss," said Lucas, "I'll help you escort these eggs."

"Thanks." Hilda took the Golden Egg she got from the Scrapper and Lucas got one of the Steel Eel's eggs. Upon delivering them, they went to grab the other two eggs and delivered them as well. All of a sudden, Hilda spotted something in the air coming towards her and Lucas. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"Are those..." Hilda squinted her eyes to look closer, "Tenta Missiles?!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Whoa!" Hilda and Lucas evaded the incoming projectiles, which left large green bursts of ink upon landing. "What?! Don't tell me they have-"

"It's a Flyfish."

"Flyfish?" They then got a signal from Bryce and Jayde.

"Carp! They've been wiped out!"

"Well then let's go! The signal came from the docks." Hilda and Lucas rushed to the docks, where they were met with a Flyfish, looking down on the Inklings from above. It was a Smallfry operating a strange machine. It had two metal boxes with lids, one on each side, attached to a small, spherical cockpit. It was airborne thanks to a singular inkjet on the cockpit. "What the hell?"

"Help us!" said Jayde from her Lifesaver, which had a Golden Egg from the Stinger in it.

"I got ya!" Hilda fired at the Lifesavers of Jayde and Bryce, saving them both.

"Phew! Thanks, girl!"

"Not a problem! So how do we take down this bug?"

"We wait," said Lucas.

"...What?" The Flyfish then lowered itself a bit and opened the lids, revealing Tenta Missile launchers.

"NOW!" Lucas threw a bomb into one of the launchers, and Jayde threw one into the other launcher. The bombs exploded, destroying both launchers and sending the Flyfish plummeting to the ground, taking it down and spilling the eggs.

"Alright!" said Jayde, "Let's get these to the basket!" The four brought their eggs to the basket, totaling 12 eggs. "Nice!"

"I think that's it for the first wave," said Mr. Grizz, "Get ready for the second." The four were sent to the Spawn Point to obtain their weapons.

"Hey, looks like the tide's going out!" said Jayde, holding the Splat Roller.

"Yes!" said Hilda, wielding the Aerospray MG, "More ground to work with!"

"Let's do this!" said Bryce, wielding the Slosher. The four jumped down to the shoreline and prepared for the Salmonids' attack. The boss alarm sounded, and another Flyfish appeared to the right, along with a second Scrapper to the left.

"Bryce, Hilda, take out the Flyfish!" yelled Lucas with the Dapple Dualies, "Jayde and I will take the motor bug over there."

"Motor bug...?" said Hilda.

"It's a nickname a friend of mine made up. Just go take it down!"

"Consider it done!" said Bryce as he and Hilda rushed at the Flyfish. "I got the left, you get the right."

"Gotcha," Hilda said. The two stood in front of the Flyfish, waiting patiently for it to open its launchers. " _C'mon...c'mon...We don't have all day._ " The second the lids flipped back, the two Inklings threw their Splat Bombs at the launchers. Bryce managed to just get his in, but Hilda missed. "CARP!"

"Take cover!" Bryce warned as the Tenta Missiles rained down on her and Bryce. The two carefully dodged the incoming missiles, and once the onslaught was over, they noticed a Steelhead on its way to the shore behind the Flyfish, along with more Salmonid forces.

"Oh squid..." Hilda said.

"I'll take the Steelhead and these other guys! You can finish off the Flyfish!" Hilda nodded as Bryce confronted the Steelhead. Hilda aimed carefully for the left launcher. When the Flyfish prepared to attack, Hilda threw the Splat Bomb at the launcher. It landed on the rim and stayed there for a few seconds, but managed to land in the launcher, taking down the Flyfish as Bryce finished off the Steelhead.

"Phew...that was close..."

"Let's get these eggs to the basket!"

"Yeah!" Hilda and Bryce each grabbed an egg and rushed to the basket. Upon delivering them, they rushed back to grab more and deliver them as well.

"Hey!" yelled Lucas as he sent a signal, "We could use some help over here!"

"We're coming!" Hilda yelled back.

"I'll get the other two eggs," said Bryce, "You help them out!"

"Okay!" Hilda rushed towards Jayde and Lucas. "What's the deal?"

"The stupid Scrapper has himself cornered," said Jayde, "But now his back is blocked. We can't get him!" The Scrapper was leaning the back of his vehicle against a wall, protecting it from all harm.

"Just let it rush at us and attack from-"

"We tried that," said Lucas, "But he won't come at us! The little coward..."

"Really?" Hilda thought for moment, and then an idea popped up in her head. "Guys, before you scold me about this, I know what I'm about to do is really damn stupid."

"Hilda...what are you thinking?"

"Clear the way!" With a running start, Hilda charged at the Scrapper. The Salmonid's eyes widened slightly with concern.

"Hilda?! What are you-?!" Jayde said. Hilda then rammed the Scrapper's vehicle with her body, shattering the windshield. The Salmonid panicked as Hilda opened fire and splatted it. The splat explosion knocked her down since she was so close.

"Omf! Oh, that hurt." Hilda managed to get up as she wiped off the Salmonid ink. She looked at her suit, it was barely damaged. " _Wow...talk about durable!_ "

"Holy shit!" said Jayde, "NICE!" Hilda looked at Jayde, and then Lucas.

"Stupid...but definitely effective," he said.

"C'mon! Let's get these back!" The three grabbed their Golden Eggs and put them in the basket, meeting Bryce along the way.

"Hey, Bryce!" said Lucas, "How many eggs did you bring back?"

"Uhhh..." Bryce replied, "They were...taken back."

"What?!" said Hilda.

"Look who showed up!" Bryce pointed to a Maws heading for them. "She detracted me long enough for two pesky Snatchers to grab 'em back."

"Then let's show that Maws who's boss!"

"Right back at ya!" Jayde said.

"I got the bomb, you guys lure her in!" said Lucas. The three spread out a little, taking out some lesser Salmonids as they approached. The Maws chose to follow Jayde, and Lucas approached. Once the faint ring appeared, Lucas rolled the bomb into the Maws' area of attack, and watched as it again took the bait.

"Seriously," said Jayde, "They're surprisingly easy to trick."

"Yeah. Come on! Let's get these to the basket." Lucas, Jayde, and Bryce each grabbed an egg and delivered them to the basket. Hilda took out some of the remaining forces.

"Ten out of nine," said Mr. Grizz, "Not bad. Hmph...Alright, onto the final wave." The four were sent to the Spawn Point as the tide went back to normal. "And if these readings are correct...it's exactly what you've been waitin' for."

"I can feel it," said Bryce, "The air again..."

"It's just like yesterday," said Hilda. The four were given their weapons. Hilda was given the Dapple Dualies, Jayde got the Aerospray MG, Bryce got the Splat Roller, and Lucas got the Slosher.

"Alright!" said Lucas, " _Finally...my main!_ "

"Everyone ready?" Jayde asked.

"Absolutely," said Hilda, "This time...they won't know what hit 'em!"

"Here it comes!" yelled Bryce, "The Griller! It's by the docks!"

" _Looks like I'm the lucky target today..._ " Hilda thought as she saw a laser pointer aimed right at her. "Alright guys! LET'S DO THIS!" The four charged forward, ready to take on the Griller. The rematch had begun. Hilda ran for an elevated platform by the bow of the ship. "Hey, you! Griller! Over here!" The Griller began advancing on Hilda, and she started to run. "Now guys, now!" The other three went behind the vehicle and chased it as it chased Hilda. They attacked the weak point, eventually managing to reveal the other weak points.

"NOW! BRING THE PAIN!" yelled Lucas as the entire crew unloaded, destroying the Griller.

"Yes!" Hilda said. Another laser pointer appeared, this time targeting Jayde.

"Whoop!" said Jayde, "You guys get these eggs to the basket! I'll keep the Griller away!"

"Good luck!" said Bryce as he, Hilda, and Lucas rushed with their eggs for the basket. Jayde looked around as she ran, thinking of ideas to keep the Griller at bay.

" _Hmm...Let's see...I could try luring it into a corner?_ " she thought, " _No...Wouldn't work. Oh, maybe I could- No...Uh..._ " She then remembered Hilda and the Scrapper earlier. " _Hmm...Maybe...Yeah. Let's try something crazy._ " Jayde got to higher ground and waited for the Griller to get closer. When it got close enough, she leaped towards it and landed on top of the Griller. "Ha ha!"

"What the-?!" said Lucas as he saw the event unfold. The Griller was suddenly confused as to where its target had gone, and started turning in random directions frantically looking for Jayde.

"Ha ha!" said Hilda, "There's one way to give an opening!" She and the other two rushed to the Griller.

"What is wrong with you two?!" Lucas said, looking at Hilda and Jayde.

"Hey, we're risk-takers!" said Jayde as she tried to balance on the Griller. "Whoa!"

"You've got it confused as to where to go!" said Bryce, "Nice!" The team took the opportunity and fired at the Griller. Once the other weak points were exposed, Jayde jumped off and helped her teammates finish the job.

"You two are crazy as hell," said Bryce, "Honestly...I kinda like it."

"C'mon! Let's get these eggs before the other Grillers show up!" The team grabbed the eggs and rushed to the basket, placing them in once they got there.

"Two Grillers are on the site!" said Mr. Grizz, "They're comin' in fast, and they've brought some Smallfries with 'em!"

"They're targeting me and Lucas!" said Bryce.

"Alright," said Hilda, "Let's split up. You two keep the Grillers away! Jayde and I will shoot 'em up one at a time!"

"You can count on us!" Bryce said.

"You get his Griller first! I'll hold out until you can get to mine!"

"Alright," said Hilda, "Then let's keep going!" The team engaged. Bryce lured the Griller to the shoreline, with Hilda and Jayde in hot pursuit. A small swarm of Smallfries chased them, which Hilda tried to keep at bay with Splat Bombs. Bryce ran around, trying to get the Griller's backside exposed.

"Bryce! Slow down!" said Jayde, "I can't get a good aim on it!"

"Hard to do that when it's coming right at you!" Bryce said.

"Just don't get too frantic!" Bryce ran in a straight line towards the docks. Hilda moved in closer until she was right behind the Griller, Jayde did the same, and they fired at the weak point. Once the others were exposed, the three began to fire at the Griller. The Griller then fell apart, dropping the Golden Eggs.

"Okay, let's get these back, then help Lucas!" said Jayde. The three grabbed their eggs and rushed at the basket, but on their way they saw the remaining Griller's laser point shift towards Hilda. It was coming from the starboard shore.

" _Carp!_ " Hilda thought as she spotted yet another Griller on its way from the docks, aiming for Jayde.

"Looks like we're next!" said Jayde as she, Hilda, and Bryce delivered their eggs.

"I'll get Lucas back up and kicking," said Bryce, "You guys distract them! We only need two more eggs so one more Griller oughta do it!"

"Okay!" Jayde said nervously.

"So, what's the plan?" said Hilda.

"The same plan we used for the other three Grillers! RUN!" The two bolted, with the Grillers giving chase. The Smallfries went for Bryce, attempting to block his way to Lucas. They didn't stand a chance against his roller, but they quickly started to surround him.

"Dammit..." said Hilda, "They're not slowing down!"

"Mr. Grizz! What do we do?!" said Jayde over the radio.

"Why are you askin' me?!" said Grizz, "You're the ones with the crazy ideas! Use one of those! AND HURRY UP WITH IT."

" _...He IS right..._ " Jayde thought some more. "Hey Hilda, what's your special?"

"Uh...Inkjet!" Hilda said.

"I have Splashdown...Hmm...You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think I might!"

"Is it crazy enough?"

"Yep!"

"Good!"

"Bryce! Lucas! Get over here!" Hilda sent the signal.

"Just revived Lucas! We're on our way!" Bryce responded. Hilda and Jayde stopped by the shoreline. "Alright, when do we do it, Jayde?"

"Waaaaait..." The Grillers started to approach them, flanking them on both sides.

"Uh...Jayde...?"

"Just a little longer!"

"What are you two doing?!" yelled Mr. Grizz. The Grillers were nearly on them.

"NOW!"

"Alright! We only got one shot at this!" Hilda activated the Inkjet, and Jayde grabbed on tight as they were launched upwards. While it wasn't as high as normal due to the increased weight, it was high enough for the two Grillers to smash into each other at full force, dazing them. Bryce and Lucas had just arrived.

"Whoa!" said Bryce.

"Yep," Lucas said, "They're insane."

" _Why I never..._ " Grizz thought.

"Ha ha! Yeah!" said Hilda.

"I think I know just what to do next!" Bryce said as he rushed for a Griller and began to fling ink from his roller at the weak point.

"Oh, I see!" Lucas said as he rushed to the other Griller, and aimed at its weak point.

"Stand back you guys!" said Jayde, once the rest of the Grillers' weak points were exposed. She then let go of Hilda's Inkjet, activating the Splashdown mid-air and plummeting down, taking down both Grillers as the Inkjet expired, sending Hilda to the ground as well.

"YES!" Hilda cheered, "It worked!" She and Jayde high-fived each other as they grabbed eggs as rushed for the basket.

"Holy carp..." said Bryce, frozen in bewilderment.

Lucas smirked. "Huh. I guess you gotta be crazy to beat crazy, eh?"

"What are you two just standing around for?" said Jayde as she and Hilda returned, "Let's grab the rest of these eggs and get outta here!"

"Agreed! Let's go!" The crew grabbed the remaining four eggs and brought them to the basket.

"Okay. I think that's it," said Mr. Grizz, "Now get back to the boat!" The four then super-jumped back to the fishing boat as it headed back towards Inkopolis.

"PHEW!" said Lucas, "That was the most exciting shift I've ever been on!" He sat down. "Jeez, do you two typically do stuff like that?!"

"No," said Hilda, "Unfortunately."

"It would be awesome if it was allowed in the Ink Sports League," said Jayde, "But it's not."

"Hey," said Bryce, "The next time you're gonna do something like that, less us know! Because now I wanna try this!"

"Alrighty, let's see here," said Mr. Grizz, "Egg count...37 out of 28. Nice haul! Better than quite a number of my other crews." He then chuckled to himself. "I like you guys. You're real hard workers, and THAT'S exactly what I'm looking for here."

"Thanks, sir," said Hilda. She sat down with her crewmates. Hilda thought for a little while. She remembered back to when she first joined Grizzco only two days ago and the reason why. She realized she had barely thought about that reason since yesterday. " _I guess now might be a good time to tell them..._ " She then looked at her crewmates.

"Guys," she said, "I feel like owe you an explanation."

"Eh?" Jayde asked, "About what?

"I didn't just join Grizzco for a few extra bucks, you know."

"Well yeah, you said you hated the carp out of the Salmonids after our first shift together," said Bryce. "But...it did cross my mind...Why do you hate them so much? Did something happen?"

"Yes. That's exactly it."

"What did they do?" asked Lucas.

Hilda looked at her crewmates' faces. They were filled with curiosity. Hilda sighed, and almost seemed to blush a bit. She stood up and undid the straps on the overalls of her suit, and lifted up the white shirt to reveal her stomach. "This," she said. The others' eyes widened. They immediately saw a large, somewhat faded scar on Hilda's right side in the shape of a bite mark.

"Holy carp..." said Jayde, "Y-You were bitten by one of them?!"

"Yeah. But that's not it. Not in the slightest." She fixed her suit and sat back down. "I actually saw a Salmonid attack."

"You did?" Bryce.

"Yep. Three years ago."

Everyone was focused on Hilda now. Even Mr. Grizz was listening closely. Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"So..." Lucas finally said, "What happened?"


	7. Chapter 7: Flashback

_Three Years Ago_

"Hey Dad, where are we going again...?" Hilda asked her father from the backseat of a car.

"I'm taking you and your brother to work, dearie," said the father as he drove the vehicle, "It's supposed to a gorgeous day out today, and I got special permission to take you two. So, I decided to take you two with me today. I mean, who knows? You may find something neat!"

"I guess." Hilda was only 14 years old at this time. Sitting next to her was her twin brother. The two had matching purple hair, and he had the spiky hair style. He was wearing the basic Turf War gear given to each new player. Hilda was wearing a White Tee with Black Trainers and no headgear. The car they were riding in was black and large in size.

"So uh...Dad?" the brother said.

"Yes, Connie?"

"Just where are we going? Like...the actual place?"

"You'll see."

The car ride took another two hours. Hilda was playing Squid Jump on her phone while Connie simply looked out the window. Hilda looked out her window for a second, but was surprised when she saw more sky than she was used to.

"Uhh..." Hilda said, "Where did all the buildings go?"

"We're out of the city," Connie said.

"Huh?" She looked back as far as she could. Inkopolis was literally behind them now. "Why are we this far out?"

"You'll see." Hilda's father said. Hilda grunted in frustration.

" _Why won't you just tell as already?_ " She went back to her phone to resume Squid Jump. Several more minutes passed...

"We're here!" said the father.

"Finally!" Hilda said. She stepped out of the car, and the first thing she saw was water. Lots of it. She looked around. She, Connie, and her father were now at a beach a few miles away from the city. The golden sand seemed to almost reflect the sunlight just like the ocean did. There were a few cabins along the coast, where Hilda saw a few people looking and digging around. There were several crates filled with digging and archeological equipment.

Hilda felt a sudden rush of excitement. She was amazed at first sight. "Whooooa," she said.

"This place looks cool!" said Connie, "What is it?"

"It's a beach, Connie! I've been to beaches a few times before, but I've never seen one as beautiful as this!"

"But...look at all that water! We can't swim!"

"Who said anything about swimming? There's plenty of sand, too!"

"Alright kids, settle down," said Dad, "We'll be here for a good two days. You'll have plenty of time to play around!" The father opened the trunk of the car, taking out more archeological equipment.

"Hey Dad?" Connie asked.

"Yes, Connie?"

"Why the heck did you bring a charger weapon?"

"Eh?" Hilda said as she looked at the trunk. There was an E-Liter 3K Scope sitting in the back. " _What the hell?_ "

"That's for just in case," the father explained, "Some places are dangerous, you know."

"I guess that is pretty true..." The father grabbed the weapon and put it in a large bag filled with equipment, which he carried almost effortlessly over his shoulder.

" _Dang..._ " Hilda thought, " _I never realized Dad was so strong!_ "

"Alright," the dad said, "I'm going to go work now. If you need me, just go to where all the big holes are. My coworkers and I will try to keep our eyes on you as best we can."

"Got it!"

"Hey sis!" Connie said, "I'll race you there!" He then ran towards the beach with a competitive look on his face.

"Oh no, you don't! Come back here!" Hilda chased him down. The two siblings spent a large chunk of the day playing around in the sand. They chased each other in games of tag, collected shells, and made sand castles, among other activities. Sometimes, they would stop to look at some of the things their father and his coworkers managed to dig up in the sand. Eventually, they got bored and took out their phones to play on.

Once the sun started to set, Hilda's father and his pals were packing up and heading inside their cabins to set up for the night. He talked with them and examined their findings. Hilda was lying in the sand now, looking aimlessly at the sky. She looked up the clouds, trying to identify them as shapes and creatures as she waited for the stars to appear.

"Hey! Sis!" yelled Connie from the shoreline.

"Huh? Wha-?" Hilda said as she sat up.

"Check it out! I found something!"

Hilda stood up, wiping the sand off her clothes as she did so, and walked towards him. Connie had found a large, spherical object that had washed up on the shore a short time ago. It was a Golden Egg.

"W-What is THIS thing?" Hilda asked, full of curiosity.

"I don't know," Connie said, "I guess it just kinda washed up here."

"It's got something swimming around in there..."

"Ha ha! It's actually kinda cute! Oh! Oh! We should show this to Dad!"

"What? Why?"

"He's looking for interesting stuff, right? Why don't we show this thing to him?"

"Hmm...Or even better, let's surprise him with it!"

"Surprise him?"

"Yeah! He always likes to surprises us, right? So, let's hide it for now and show it to him outta the blue tomorrow! It'll be nice to surprise him for a change, right?"

"You're a genius, Hilda! Let's do it!"

"Let's see if we can sneak this thing inside, first." Hilda picked up the egg and carefully brushed it off. She was surprised by how light it was.

"Maybe we can keep the thing inside it as a pet?"

"Hmm...maybe. _I'm not sure I really want to keep this thing, though..._ " Hilda looked towards her father; he was still talking with his coworkers. The two took advantage and managed to sneak the egg into their cabin. " _Yes! Made it!_ "

"Where should we hide it?"

"Hmmm..." Hilda looked around and walked into the room that she and Connie were to sleep in. It was a fairly small room. It was only big enough to fit two beds, one for Hilda and one for Connie, and a single table with a cabinet, placed in between the two beds. "Oh! Let's hide it in this cabinet!"

"Good idea!" It was just big enough to fit the Golden Egg. They opened the cabinet and placed the egg inside. "Alright...now what?"

"Now we just wait for Dad and then go to sleep, I guess. We'll surprise him with the egg when he gets up!"

The next morning, Hilda was the first to get up. The sun was just starting to rise. She stretched out and yawned as she got out of bed. She immediately went to check to see if the egg was still in the cabinet. Sure enough, it was.

"Hello, gold thing," Hilda said as she picked it up and walked up to the window. She looked out to see the sunrise.

"Mmm...Mornin' sis," said Connie as he too woke up.

"Morning,"

"How'd you sleep?"

"Good. You?"

"Good. How'd the gold thingy fare?"

"Pretty good!"

"I can't wait to surprise Dad with this thing!"

"Hehe, you and me both!"

"Hey, do you wanna go outside for a little bit and get some fresh air?

"Eh, why not?" Hilda and Connie walked out of their room and out the front door. They sat down on the front steps. Hilda put the Golden Egg on her lap.

"Hey, what do you think this thing is, anyway?" Connie asked.

"I'm not sure," Hilda answered, "Maybe it's some kind of egg?"

"That might explain the little guy floating in it."

"Yeah. I think it- Huh? Hey! Look!" Hilda said, pointing to something coming out of the water that she had spotted. It was slowly slithering onto the shore. It was a Salmonid, but not like the others. It was like a Chum, but slightly bigger and bulkier. Its scales were shining silver instead of the usual dark green, and it had a look on its face that screamed 'Where is it?!' Fittingly, it was frantically looking around as if it had lost something.

"What is that?"

"I...don't know." Hilda suddenly felt uncomfortable and even a bit threatened. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't stop looking at him. Suddenly, he eyed the two Inklings and froze. Then he just stared. No one moved. No one made a sound. It was just Hilda, Connie, and this Silver Salmonid. The siblings both felt a chill down their backs.

"Don't. Move. A muscle." Hilda whispered. The Silver Salmonid inched forward a bit.

"...Th-That..." he said. He was a bit too far for the Inklings to make out what he said.

" _W-What? Did he...say something?_ "

"They...here...!" The Salmonid yelled as he suddenly charged at the Inklings. "GIVE...BACK!"

"GAAAH! HILDA, RUN!" Connie yelled as he grabbed Hilda's wrist and they ran into the cabin, Golden Egg in tow, slamming the door behind them and locking it. The Salmonid rushed up and began banging ruthlessly on the door.

"GIVE! IT! BACK!"

"Give back what?!" Hilda said, "The egg?!" Suddenly, the banging stopped. There were a few seconds of calm, and then Hilda heard what sounded like more creatures coming from the water and heading inland. "What's that?!" Hilda rushed to the nearest window, and saw the Silver Salmonid looking at the shoreline, smiling. Then she saw them - lots of them - at least 30 Salmonids. Smallfries, Chums, and Cohocks. They were emerging from the water and heading for the cabins.

"W-W-What the hell?!"

"Kids?!" yelled Hilda's dad, rushing to his kids, "What's going on?!"

"Dad! There's like...an army outside!"

"Army? What do you-" The second he looked out the window, his face turned white with pure shock and disbelief. He was frozen almost. "Oh...no..."

"Dad? Connie asked, "A-Are you o-"

The father suddenly rushed to his room and yelled into a radio, "GET UP! GET OUT YOUR BEDS! GRAB WHATEVER WEAPON YOU CAN! THERE'S SALMONIDS HERE! I REPEAT – WE'RE UNDER ATTACK BY SALMONIDS!" Hilda had never heard him yell like that before. It scared her and Connie. They didn't know what was happening.

"S-Salmonids?!" Hilda said, "What's a-?!" She then heard inkfire. She and Connie looked out another window to see every one of their father's coworkers firing with ink weaponry, trying to counterattack the incoming hordes.

"Kids! Stay here!" The father rushed outside with the E-Liter 3K.

"Wh-What's going on?! Why's this happening?!"

"They're fighting those Salmonid things!" Connie said, "But...holy carp! You gotta see this!" They both looked out the window to see Salmonids everywhere. The ground was covered in orange and green ink. Hilda was stunned and terrified. It was once a quiet, peaceful beach just a few minutes ago. Now it was a war zone.

"There's...There's so many of them...!" Hilda said. She then saw the Salmonids trying to attack some of the coworkers. They were able to hold their own, and they were vastly outnumbered. "We...We can't just sit here and watch this! We have to do something!"

"How?! What can we-" Suddenly, a Chum burst through the window, knocking down Hilda and Connie. With it was small group of Smallfries. "AH! CARP! RUN!" They immediately ran away; Hilda was still clutching the Golden Egg. They were chased all over the cabin until they reached their dad's room. The Salmonids had them cornered. "What now?!"

"What do you think?!" Hilda pointed to the window. They had no other choice now. Hilda fiercely opened the window and the two jumped out one at a time. Still holding on to the egg, Hilda and Connie rushed for the one last safe place they could think of: the car.

"Hurry!" Hilda yelled. They ran for the parking lot, and soon the car was in sight. "There! I see it!" Suddenly, the Silver Salmonid popped up in front of them. They halted. "Gah! Uh...other way!" But there were Salmonids blocking the other way, too. They were surrounded by Chums and Smallfries, as well as the Silver Salmonid. "Uh oh..."

"Give...it..." said the Silver Salmonid in his creepy voice.

"What? This thing?!" Hilda said.

His face turned impatient. "GIVE...NOW..."

"No! This is ours!" She was about to regret saying that.

Before Hilda could even react, the Silver Salmonid lunged at her, giving her a good look at his teeth. They looked incredibly sharp - like razor blades. He forcefully bit Hilda, sinking his teeth into her right side.

"GAAAAAAH!" Hilda screamed in intense pain. It was agonizing. She felt streams of blood leak from her body as her shirt around the bite turned red. She let go of the egg. The Silver Salmonid let go of her and rushed for it, leaving Hilda lying there, bleeding. "Gah! It hurts! IT HURTS!"

"SIS!" Connie yelled, "You piece of carp! Don't you know how to treat a girl?!" He threw the biggest rock he could find at the Silver Salmonid. It hit the back of his head, and he turned around to look at Connie. Hilda wanted to take the opportunity to attack him back, but she couldn't move at all. It hurt too much.

"Heh...heh...heh..." the Silver Salmonid said. "...Want to play game?"

" _W-We have to get out of here..._ " Hilda thought, "Connie!"

"Don't worry, Hilda! I'll-" Connie started to say when he was suddenly hit on the back by the Silver Salmonid with the same rock. It knocked him down. "Gah! Ow...HEY!" He stood back up.

"LET'S PLAY!" The Silver Salmonid then jumped back as a bunch of the Salmonids surrounding the two Inklings closed in on Connie. The Smallfries latched onto his body first.

"What the-?! Stop that!" Connie ripped of the Smallfries, trying his best to get them all off. The Chums around him suddenly started to swarm him and began beating him with their frying pans. "Gah-OW! Stop that! Ugh! Ouch!" He tried his best to defend himself.

"Connie!" Hilda yelled as she tried her hardest to move. " _Ugh! Come on, dammit! Move!_ " It was agonizing. She couldn't move much without a rush of unbearable pain coursing through her entire body. Somehow she managed to make it to her knees.

"Grrrah!" Suddenly a Cohock appeared and slammed his frying pan into the back of Connie's head, launching him a few feet away and knocking him out. He was covered in bruises.

"CONNIE! Urgh!" Hilda continued to try and get to her feet, but no matter what she did, the pain was too much. She fell back to the ground. "Connie...wake up!"

"Egg..." said the Salmonid as he took the Golden Egg. "Now...find more!" The Salmonids suddenly rushed away back for the cabins.

" _What?! What is he, their leader?_ "

The Silver Salmonid looked at Hilda with a grin. "See...you...soon..." Hilda glared back at him. He then left with the egg towards the cabins. "Eep! OW!" Hilda tried one more time to get up, but by now it was useless to even try. "Gah! How deep was that bite?!"

"HILDA! CONNIE!" Hilda heard her father yell. He was rushing at them alongside some of his coworkers.

"D-Dad?" Hilda said faintly.

"Oh my gosh!" one of the coworkers said.

"The girl! She's terribly wounded!" said another.

"I'll contact medical assistance immediately!" said yet another.

"Thank you so much!" said Hilda's father as he scooped her up off the ground. Another coworker got my brother. "Let's go! We have to leave!"

" _Yeah no kidding!_ " Hilda thought.

"But...the other-! Our relics-!" said a coworker.

"Forgot it! They're lost! This whole place is lost! It's overrun!" Hilda's father yelled, "We have to go! NOW!"

Hilda turned her head to see behind her father. There were still a lot of Salmonids. They were headed for the cabins. " _Huh? What they looking for? More of those gold eggs...?_ " Then she saw him again – the Silver Salmonid, looking at her. He had a satisfied grin on his face.

" _I-It's...This was your fault..._ " Hilda thought angrily. Her fist clenched as the Salmonid looked away and followed the rest of the horde. " _D-Dammit..._ "

 _Present Day_

"Holy shit..." Bryce said.

"You were actually in an attack?!" Jayde said, "W-Why didn't you ever tell me this?!"

"...I wasn't sure how'd you react at the time," said Hilda. The boat was parked at the docks of the Grizzco building now. It had been for some time. Everyone was still on board however, listening to Hilda's story. It was mid-day now, and the sun was right above the crew's heads.

"So...what was the aftermath?" Bryce asked.

"Well, Connie and I were sent to the hospital immediately. I found out there that apparently my father's archeologist crew found a lot of Golden Eggs that day. Ten of 'em, at least. So the one we found wasn't the only one to wash up on the beach. They hoped they'd be able to catch a few extra bucks with them."

"So then...the Salmonids surfaced in order to get them back!" said Lucas.

"Right. They got 'em back, alright. But they destroyed the entire site in the process. Most of the cabins were a mess or torn down by the end of the invasion. Almost all of the stuff the archeologists had with them, including their equipment, findings, and relics, were lost."

"...Forgive me for asking this, but...did anybody die?"

"...Yes. Two coworkers of my father were beaten to death by Cohocks."

"..."

"What about Connie? Was he alright?" Bryce asked.

Hilda paused. "I was...honestly shocked when he actually lived. But I was relieved, too." A single tear fell out of Hilda's eye. "I think that's the only day in my life I ever cried. He was in pretty bad shape for a while, though. I felt terrible for him. He was so behind in the Turf War League due to his injuries. That blow to the head was strong enough to give him a pretty bad concussion for a while. I on the other hand was treated for my wound. It wasn't as bad as it looked, but I still had to stay in the hospital for a little while. But...we both pulled though."

"Kid," said Mr. Grizz over the radio, "You're a warrior. Survivin' a Salmonid attack? That's real rough without a weapon. The fact that you did...I'm starting to feel real glad you're on this crew."

"Thank you, sir..."

"Hilda," said Jayde as she stood up. "You should've told me. There's no way I'd deny it with that scar on your belly. It finally explains why I couldn't find you or Connie for a good few weeks. You worried the hell outta me!"

"I...I'm sorry, Jayde. I just-"

"Hey, don't sweat it." Jayde smiled as she put her hand on Hilda's shoulder. "I understand. We all do."

"...Thanks. It feels good to finally have that off my chest."

"Hey," said Lucas, "About that Silver Salmonid guy...You said he could speak...How?!"

"I don't know...I guess he's...more intelligent?"

"Maybe he's like the Goldies," said Jayde, "They're more intelligent than their normal counterparts...Maybe he was a special species of Goldie?"

"Maybe we'll never know," said Bryce.

"I don't know much about him," said Hilda, "But I assume he was a commander of sorts. He was barking orders at the others. He's the one who launched that attack..."

"So you hold him responsible?"

"Yes..." Hilda paused again. She could see her hand clenching up into a fist again. She stopped it before it could. "But you know...despite everything, I think I can put it aside. It's in the past now." Hilda stood up. "Guys...thanks for listening. It means a lot."

"No problem," said Jayde.

"Yeah!" said Bryce, "Now we know why you hate 'em so much. Really shed some light."

"Hey Hilda," said Lucas, "In the unlikely chance we ever do run into that Silver Salmonid you were talking about, we'll help ya take him down with everything we've got. Count on it!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll light him up!" said Jayde.

Hilda smiled. "Thank you," she said. "But you won't be helping me take him down. We'll all help each other take him down. We are a crew now, four as one!"

"That's the spirit, Hilda!" said Lucas, "If they mess with one of us, they mess with ALL of us!"

"Yeah!" Jayde said.

"Right on!" said Bryce.

"Now what do you say we work another shift real quick?" Hilda suggested, "This has made me hungry for more Salmon slayin'!"

"Sounds good!" said Lucas.

"You got it!" said Mr. Grizz, "Perfect timing, too. I've just detected Salmonid readings and the boat is ready to leave for the next shift in just a few minutes."

"Alright," said Jayde, "Let's do this!"

"Oh, one more thing, you'll be going somewhere new for this shift."

"We are?" Bryce said, "Where to?"

"Glad you asked, kid. Get ready to see the Lost Outpost."


	8. Chapter 8: Outpost Onslaught

The city grew smaller and smaller in the distance as the boat travelled a bit farther away for it than the crew was used to. The seas looked even greener and more contaminated than they did at the Spawning Grounds and the Marooner's Bay. Hilda was adjusting her tentacle bun as she examined the area.

"Bleh...out of all the places we've been to so far, this place reeks the most," said Hilda.

"You're telling me," said Jayde, "It's almost unbearable."

"Hmph, yeah," said Lucas, "It's even worse than the locker rooms in Musselforge Fitness."

"Oh cod..."

"So, what's this Lost Outpost place again?" Bryce asked.

"It's supposed to be an abandoned outpost from a long time ago," said Jayde, "At least...that's what our report says." Jayde looked at a map of the Lost Outpost sitting next to her, provided by Mr. Grizz. She looked at it closely. "Jeez...this place looks a lot different than our normal locations. It's very..."

"Very what?"

"...I don't know how to say it."

Bryce took a look. "...Different?"

"That's what I just said!"

"Different, huh?" said Hilda, "Have you guys ever been this Lost Outpost?"

"Nope," said Bryce, "Never heard of it until about an hour ago."

"So, this is a completely new place for us? Great."

"Yeah, this could get kinda tough," said Lucas, "New area, new quirks. Let's just hope nothing really bad happens."

"Yeah." Hilda sighed as she looked up. Her expression changed when she saw what looked like smoke or steam in the air. It looked as if it were coming out of a huge chimney. " _What the...? Is someone cooking around here?_ " She looked out the boat to see a number of large shacks surrounding them. They looked old, but at the same time refurbished. But even so, it looked hastily and sloppily built. There was junk covering the roof and walls, including old garbage such as broken air conditioners and tires. There was a strange green glow coming from within the buildings. Chimneys in the shape of giant tin cans let out great amounts of steam.

"What the hell is all this?" Hilda asked. The rest of the crew looked around and were bewildered. Looking further, the crew noticed more. There were giant forks sprouting from the sea with what looked like giant cut pieces of fruit, such as pieces of watermelons and oranges. Farther out, there were smaller islands in the distance, some of which were close to the city. One giant landmass that appeared to be a hilly plains of some sort was behind the shacks.

"What in the name of-" Lucas said to himself.

"Shacks?" said Bryce, "All the way out here?"

"What's the meaning of this?" Hilda asked, "Why are these here of all places?"

"...I think it might be some sort of...dwelling," Jayde suggested.

"Dwelling? Don't tell me the Salmonids are living in these things..."

"I don't know, judging from that green glow coming from the windows though, I can only assume that's the case."

"No way..." said Bryce, "So this is like...their base?"

"Nah," said Mr. Grizz, "It's just a place where they seem to live or somethin'."

"That's not much better! What if their numbers are a lot more than usual here?"

"So what?" said Lucas, "Doesn't change anything. We're still fighting Salmonids and collecting Power Eggs."

"I guess that's true..."

The boat suddenly halted. The crew looked to see one particular outpost standing out from the rest. It looked completely manmade. The artificial island was very cubic in shape; there was a grated area in the front, the west area was a solid stone area with three walls separating three ramps that lead into the water, and the east area consisted of a few branching paths. A large structure stood in the center, resembling a house with no roof. Three of its walls had a door-like entrance and a window each. An exit was also by the back of the building, but it seemed to lead to nowhere but sea.

"That's it," said Mr. Grizz, "The Lost Outpost."

"Whoa..." Hilda said

"Buckle up, kids. Time to go to work! Your quotas today are 9, 10, and 12. Good luck."

"Right!" The four were super-jumped to the Spawn Point, located in front of the egg basket in the middle of the building. Hilda was given the Slosher, Jayde got the Aerospray MG, Bryce got the Dapple Dualies, and Lucas got the Splat Roller.

"It's gonna be a little bit before they show up this time," said Mr. Grizz, "Have a quick breather while ya can."

"Alright." The crew looked at the interior of the structure they had landed in. It didn't seem much different from the inside than it did on the outside.

"Hey guys..." said Jayde, "Look at all this graffiti!" Graffiti covered the walls. Various drawings of fish, Salmonids, and even squid and octo symbols decorated them.

"What the heck?" said Bryce.

Hilda looked at one of the drawings. It was four stick figures with arrow-shaped heads, colored in bright orange. "Is this supposed to be...us?!" she said.

"What's with all this gibberish writing?" Jayde asked, examining one part of the wall with various symbols that seemed to be a language of sorts.

"I think that might be some sort of...language?" said Lucas. The feel of this place was unlike anything the crew had experienced before. It felt even more dangerous and creepy. There were several more drawings, some of which were more disturbing than others despite being simplistic.

" _This place is giving me the creeps..._ " Hilda thought. Suddenly, the boss alarm sounded.

"Looks like it's time to start the party!" Bryce said.

"Alright, spread out!" said Jayde, "Find the boss!" The crew immediately went in different directions.

Hilda went towards the grated area. She used the Slosher to spread ink in front of her and swam towards the grates, but nearly fell through when she got to the area. "GAH!" she yelped as she shapeshifted into humanoid form just before she could fall through the grate and into the water. In front of her was a horde of Salmonids, but there was no boss in sight.

" _Shit, where is it?!_ " Hilda thought as she poured ink on her enemies and sent a signal. She moved towards one of the solid platforms in the grated area, so she could refuel if her ink ran out. " _Where is it?! Where is it?! Where is it?!_ "

"Hilda?" said Jayde as she and the others arrived, "Where's the boss?"

"I don't know! It's-" Suddenly, Hilda noticed a red and yellow buoy at her feet. "-Right under me!" She dove out of the way just as a Maws appeared from the ground. She stood up and readied a Splat Bomb. "I'll lure it over solid ground!"

"Alright!" The others supported Hilda, guarding her from the incoming horde. Hilda moved back towards the building until she was no longer standing on grates. Once the Maws showed its faint rings, she jumped out of the way and left a Splat Bomb behind, splatting the beast as it ate it. "Got him! You guys get the eggs to the basket! I'll take on the other guys until you get back!"

"Are you su-"

"Is that even a question?"

Jayde sighed. "Alright. Be careful."

"I will." Hilda looked for any other Salmonids or bosses while the rest delivered the eggs from the Maws. She found a Stinger at the west area, with a Steelhead alongside it and many Chums and Cohocks following them. Hilda rushed for them. " _It wouldn't hurt to charge forward just once, right?_ " She headed straight for the incoming army, taking down as many Salmonids as she could. Jayde and Bryce soon arrived while Lucas went to scout for more bosses.

"How's it going?" said Bryce.

"Fine!" said Hilda, "We've got a Stinger and a Steelhead!"

"I'll get the Stinger here," said Jayde, "You two take the Steelhead!"

"On it!" Hilda and Bryce headed for the Steelhead, taking down Salmonids as they made their way towards the beast. He stood there, looking at Hilda. It had an angry look on its face, more so than usual. It charged up the bomb on its head as Hilda and Bryce fired at the weapon, but it wasn't enough before it threw the bomb.

" _Huh?!_ " Bryce thought, " _He charged it faster than usual..._ "

"Look out, dumbass!" Hilda said.

"Whoa!" The two managed to dodge the bomb's blast, but both were knocked back. "Thanks for the warning!"

"No problem." Hilda aimed her weapon again at the beast's head. It stared. The two looked each other for a few moments, standing completely still. "Hey!" The second the word came out of Hilda's mouth, the beast charged the bomb as it rushed at Hilda. "Whoa!" Hilda threw ink at the Steelhead with her Slosher, splatting it as the bomb exploded.

"Whoa! You okay, Hilda?"

"Y-Yeah...That was strange."

"Let's grab these eggs and get 'em to the basket!"

"Right!" Hilda then yelled to Jayde, "Jayde?! How are you?"

"Just finished delivering the Stinger's eggs!" Jayde responded, "Lucas and I are about to take on a Drizzler by the east side. We could use some help!"

"On our way! Looks like we've got a Drizzler! C'mon!" Hilda and Bryce rushed for the basket to deliver their eggs.

"I'll get that last egg," Bryce said, "I'll meet you by the Drizzler."

"Got it!" Hilda rushed over to Jayde and Lucas's position while Bryce got the last egg. She arrived to see Jayde in a Lifesaver and Lucas swinging his roller at incoming hordes of Salmonids. "Jayde!" Hilda fired ink at the Lifesaver and revived Jayde. "Jayde, where's the Drizzler?"

"Ugh...I don't know. I lost sight of him!" Jayde said.

"He's up there!" said Lucas.

"Huh?" Hilda said as she and Jayde looked to see the Drizzler floating away, landing by the east doorway of the building. "Oh. Alright, let's wait to-"

"Hey guys," said Lucas as he closed in on the Drizzler, but not too close. "I got this." He prepared his Splat Roller, holding it like a baseball bat. "Clear the way!"

"Eh?!"

"Trust me!"

"Okay." Hilda and Jayde stepped away. The Drizzler aimed its missile towards Lucas, adjusting slightly to make sure it would hit him.

"Come to papa..." The Drizzler fired his missile, and Lucas rushed towards the incoming projectile and wacked it with his roller like a baseball. The missile flew upwards, and then bolted back downwards. The Salmonid panicked as the missile came down on him like an Inkstrike, splatting him instantly. "Ha! Home run!"

"Holy carp..." Jayde said, "Do play baseball or something?"

"Not anymore, but I did at one point. Now let's get these eggs to the basket already!" The three delivered the eggs dropped by the Drizzler to the basket, were they met Bryce as the timer reached zero. They had collected 12 eggs.

"Nice haul, workers," said Mr. Grizz, "NOW BRING ME MORE!" The four were super-jumped back to the Spawn Point and reassigned their weapons. Hilda got the Splat Roller, while Jayde got the Dapple Dualies, Bryce got the Slosher, and Lucas got the Aerospray MG. The strange feeling in the air returned.

"Uh oh," said Bryce, "The air's back. Something's about to happen."

"I feel it, too," said Hilda.

"Whoa! Look!" Jayde said as she pointed to a circular sewer-like object on the ground. A valve suddenly shot up from it. "Gushers!" More of them started to make themselves known at the same time. They were everywhere.

"Gushers?"

"Hilda," said Lucas, "Listen. There's a Goldie in one of these Gushers. He has the Golden Eggs. When you find him, rally everyone up and chase him down! The fire you hit him, the more eggs he'll drop! The higher the stream of ink, and the brighter the light, the closer the Goldie is!"

"Got it!"

"Good! Now let's do this!" The four split up, looking for Gushers. Hilda went to the west area and looked around.

"He's not on the east side!" said Bryce, "The Gushers here are all really low."

" _Then...he must be here in the west!_ " Hilda thought. She spotted one Gusher by the edge of the platform and smashed it with her roller. A huge stream of ink shoot up, and a bright light emitted from it. But there was no Goldie. " _It's close...I smell him._ " Suddenly, a Cohock jumped out of the Gusher, preparing to land on and crush Hilda. "Hey!" Hilda slammed the Cohock in the face with her roller, knocking it into the sea. "Mind your own business!"

Hilda spotted another Gusher nearby and ran for it. "This one, I hope..." Hilda activated the Gusher and an enormous stream shot out along with an almost-blinding light.

"THERE IT IS!" said Mr. Grizz, "After that Goldie!"

"There you are!" Hilda sent a signal as she flung ink up at the golden Salmonid.

"Nice work, Hilda!" said Jayde as she arrived with Bryce and Lucas. They all opened fire and Golden Eggs spawned from the Goldie one by one. It started to run away for another Gusher.

"HEY!" Hilda yelled, "Where do you think you're goin'?!" The crew chased it down as it left behind a trail of Golden Eggs. As it took more blows, the Goldie got smaller and faster.

"Urgh! It's starting to outrun us!" said Lucas. The Goldie found a Gusher by the other end of the outpost and jumped into it. Hilda tried to smash it with the roller, but it was in the Gusher when she attacked, and only activated the Gusher revealing nothing but a tiny spout of ink. The rest of the Gushers had now reset.

"Grrrr...Dammit!" said Hilda.

"C'mon!" said Bryce, "We need to collect the eggs it dropped!"

Hilda took in a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. She looked back to her crewmates. "Right."

"I'll look for him," said Lucas, "You guys make sure all those eggs get to the basket where they belong!"

"On it!" said Bryce.

"...Okay! Let's go!" Hilda said. Lucas left to find more Gushers while the rest grabbed the eggs left behind. They grabbed them and rushed to the basket in rapid succession, running back and forth trying to get as many in as possible before the Snatchers took them. When all the eggs had been collected, it totaled nine.

"Nine eggs, not bad," said Bryce.

"Help!" said Lucas over the radio, "I've been overrun! I need reviving!"

"Coming!" said Bryce.

"I'll follow you," said Hilda, "Jayde, you find that stupid sparkling fish!"

"Already started!" Jayde replied. Bryce and Hilda rushed to Lucas, who's Lifesaver was surrounded by Salmonids.

"What the-?! Where'd they come from?!"

"The Gushers!" said Bryce, "If they don't have a Goldie, more Salmonids will pop up one after another!"

"Oh, are you kidding me?!"

"Let's plow through these guys and get to Lucas!"

"Right!" Hilda ran through, crushing the Salmonids with her Splat Roller while Bryce got the rest with the Slosher. Green and orange ink was flung everywhere amidst the onslaught. Hilda managed to reach Lucas and revived him just as the last few Salmonids were splatted.

"Phew. Thanks," said Lucas.

"No problem!"

"Ugh..." said Jayde, "I'm having trouble finding him! They're so many Gushers here..."

"We'll help you look!" said Bryce. The crew split up, looking for the Gushers. They hit one after another, but none of them had the Goldie they were seeking. " _C'mon...where is it?! Can't find my way through this place...these darn walls block everything from view!_ "

Hilda opened every Gusher she saw, but had no luck. Every time it was just regular Salmonids and no Goldie. She looked for more Gushers as she splatted Salmonids, but saw none that weren't already open. She was starting to get frustrated. Her teeth started to grind. " _Grr...COME ON!_ " she thought," _How hard can this be?! It's just a freakin' fish! Now hard can it be to find ONE FREAKING-_ "

"GOLDIE!" yelled Lucas, "Guys! He's over here! In the building!" The entire crew rushed into the walls, where the Goldie was sitting atop a Gusher's pillar of ink. The crew fired frantically at it as it retreated. It ran out and around the building, looking for a new Gusher to dive into. While the crew managed to get a few eggs out of it, it was only a few before it started to outrun them again.

"Carp! He's too fast!" said Bryce.

"Wait..." said Lucas, "Where's Hilda?!" The crew suddenly stopped. Hilda was gone.

"Huh?!" said Jayde, "Did she get splatted?!"

"Oh no..."

"Guys! The Goldie!" Bryce yelled. It was about to enter another Gusher.

"CARP!" said Jayde, "Get h-" Suddenly, Hilda emerged from a small patch of ink right in front of the Goldie. Caught off guard, it stopped in its tracks.

"Surprise, you little piece of carp." Hilda said. The Goldie tried to run in the opposite direction, but the rest of the crew halted it. It tried running to the sides, but they were cut off now, too. The crew had flanked and trapped the Goldie.

"Hmph. Nice tactic, workers," Mr. Grizz whispered to himself. The Goldie didn't last much longer. It dropped more Golden Eggs upon its splat.

"FINALLY," Hilda said.

"Good idea spooking him like that!" said Jayde, "We got him!"

"Thanks," said Hilda, "Now let's get these eggs to the basket and get onto wave three already!" The crew collected as many Golden Eggs as they could and brought them to the basket. Their total was 17 eggs. The air cleared as the four were again sent to the Spawn Point.

"Almost double the quota!" Mr. Grizz said, "Nice."

"Looks like the Aerospray MG is mine this time," said Hilda.

"I got the Splat Roller," said Jayde.

"Slosher's mine!" said Bryce.

"Dapple Dualies here," said Lucas.

Hilda thought to herself, " _Okay...final wave. Let's get this over with._ "

"Hey, Hilda?" said Jayde, noticing Hilda's stressed-out expression, "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. That last wave just reeeeally aggravated me a bit."

"Yeah, Goldie Seeking is tough. You never know where the bugger's gonna show up next. Sometimes, you'll go through the whole stage before finally finding him."

"Tell me about it..."

"Guys?" said Bryce, "Do you hear waves or something?"

"That..." said Jayde, "sounds like the tide's coming in!"

"What?!" Hilda said. Sure enough, the water level began to rise as the paths became consumed by the seas. All that was left was the building itself with a small border of land surrounding it. "Oh, you've gotta be KIDDING ME!"

" _First day in a new location and we get a Goldie hunt and then this?!_ " Lucas thought, "Oh, this is gonna be rough..."

"Just stay calm and get those eggs!" said Mr. Grizz, "I'm not paying ya to just sit around!" The boss alarm sounded twice in a row, signaling the arrival of two Boss Salmonids.

"There's two," said Bryce.

"Hilda, you and I can look for one!" said Jayde, "You guys find the other!"

"Got it!" The four split into groups of two, with Hilda and Jayde running out the front while Bryce and Lucas ran to the west. The amount of ground seemed far less compared to the other two locations at high tide. Almost immediately Hilda caught sight of a Scrapper heading for them, followed by a swarm of Smallfries.

"Scrapper! It's heading right for us!" she warmed Jayde, "I'll stun him! You get him from the back!" Hilda opened fire on the Salmonid, halting him.

"Uh...one problem with that!" Jayde said.

"What?"

"This walkway's too thin! If I try to get past him with all these Smallfries, I'll end up in the water!"

"Hmm..." Hilda thought as she racked up enough damage to fully stun the Scrapper. She looked to the wall. It was covered with orange ink with spots of green ink. "...Oh! Try swimming to the other side from the wall!"

"Oh yeah! The wall!" Jayde shifted to squid form and swam across the ink along the wall, jumped off from the wall and landing behind the Scrapper. She splatted it along with the Smallfries. "Got him!"

"Guys! We're getting overrun again! Help!" Bryce yelled.

"On our way!" The two each grabbed a Golden Egg. They rushed into the building, only to find Bryce and Lucas with eggs as well at the doorway, trying to block an incoming horde.

"They're trying to get inside!"

"Carp! They're coming from the other way, too!" said Jayde as she spotted a Steelhead on its way in, followed by a Flyfish. The four quickly placed their eggs in the basket and rushed for the doorways, only to find even more Salmonids had spawned.

"They're flanking us!" said Hilda.

"Tch!" said Lucas. He raised his weapon to the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! Fire like hell! Block the gates! Take down the bosses! Do not let a single Salmonid in this building! This our last wave, so let's get moving!"

"RIGHT!" everyone else yelled as they fired upon the incoming hordes. They were stuck within the walls, trying desperately to keep all the Salmonids at bay. There were dozens of them, dropping a load of Power Eggs as they were taken down.

" _Damn!_ " Hilda thought, " _There's so many of them! Even for me, this is crazy!_ Jayde!"

"What is it?!"

"Can I go crazy on these guys again?!"

"Probably not the best time! Our main focus is to stay alive until we can get those eggs in that basket and get out of here!"

"Urgh...right!" Hilda was slightly disappointed, but continued to fight regardless. " _Alright...let's see. Where's the nearest b-_ " She suddenly spotted the Steelhead, who was now engaging in combat with Bryce. The beast charged up his bomb towards him, and Hilda immediately noticed and fired at it. The Steelhead was taken down right in the nick of time.

"Thanks, Hilda!"

"No problem!" As Bryce and Hilda delivered the three Golden Eggs dropped by the Steelhead, Bryce saw numerous Tenta Missiles from the Flyfish headed for Hilda.

"HILDA! MOVE!" He shoved her out of the way, sparing her from the missiles' blast but also splatting himself in the process.

"Uh?! Don't worry, Bryce! I got-" A Cohock suddenly appeared and slammed her with his frying pan with enough strength to launch her into the back wall behind the basket, and she landed hard on the ground. "Oh...That really hurt..." She slowly got to her knees to see the building filling up with Salmonids, but she was too stunned by the blow to do much else. A Stinger appeared by the shore, and a Steel Eel appeared as well.

"Carp! Carp! CARP!" yelled Jayde as she got surrounded by Salmonids. "Lucas! Hilda! Use your s-" She was splatted before she could finish.

"Wha-?! No!" Lucas said, "Damnit! There's WAY too many of 'em!" A dozen Salmonids now crowded the building, targeting mainly Lucas. "Oh c'mon!" He didn't last much longer. Suddenly, the Salmonids turned towards Hilda.

"HUH?! N-Now what?!" Hilda frantically looked around. "Gah...I need to get up! I gotta-"

"Hilda!" yelled Jayde, "Over here! I have an idea!" Hilda spotted Bryce and Jayde's Lifesavers floating towards her among the horde. "Guys!" She took out a Splat Bomb as the horde got ever close. " _There's way too many to try and push through to them... but...if I can use this to revive them, we can avoid a crew wipe! And then...I don't care what they say. I'm goin' wild on these guys._ " She tossed the Splat Bomb into the crowd just as a Chum attacked and splatted Hilda. There was a short silence as the Salmonids thought they were finished with their work. The bomb landed on the ground. A second or two passed...

 _ **KABOOM!**_ A number of Salmonids were taken out as Jayde and Bryce, just within range of the blast, were revived.

"YES!" yelled Bryce.

"Alright!" Jayde yelled. She tossed a Splat Bomb at Lucas to revive Lucas and Bryce threw one of revive Hilda.

"HA HA HA! Amazing save, kid!" said Mr. Grizz, "Now keep goin'!"

"Alright, everyone! SPECIAL WEAPONS! NOW!"

"Yeah! Let's finish this!" yelled Hilda. She was ready. Adrenaline pumped through her entire body. So much so, she ripped one of the silver packed from her cap and ripped it open with her bare teeth. Everyone activated their special at once. The Bomb Launcher appeared on Hilda's back, Jayde jumped up for the Splashdown, Bryce took to the skies with the Inkjet, and Lucas fired up the powerful Sting Ray.

The battle was suddenly shifted. Within seconds, the Salmonids within the building, including the bosses, were annihilated. Lucas took down the Flyfish with the Sting Ray, which pierced through all defenses and brought it down easily. Bryce destroyed the Steel Eel and the Stinger with a few shots from his Inkjet Blaster. Hilda and Jayde used their specials to clear the area for the remaining forces. The remained Salmonids that survived were petrified and immediately retreated to avoid the same fate that they witnessed the others meet.

"YEAH! GET OUT OF HERE!" Hilda yelled as the battlefield calmed and the Specials wore off. "WOOOOO!" She then stopped to catch her breath.

"Hilda?" said Jayde as she walked up to her.

"Huh?" She turned around to look at Jayde.

"That. Was. PERFECT!"

"No kidding! I told ya I was pretty crazy!"

"Heh, I know that better than anyone!"

"If you're done celebrating," said Lucas, "Let's get these eggs before our timer runs out!" The crew grabbed the remaining Power Eggs dropped in the onslaught. At the end of the wave, they had collected 16 total eggs.

"Alright, that's the last of 'em!" said Mr. Grizz, "Let's get you guys back." The four were super-jumped back to the boat as it left the Lost Outpost and returned to the city. Hilda collapsed on the floor.

"WOO!" she said, "That felt GREAT!"

I know!" said Lucas, "Best shift I've ever worked by far!"

"Jayde, your plan was pure genius! Using all the specials at once? That was a game changer!"

"Hey," said Jayde, "You set it into motion when you threw that bomb last-minute!"

"I am NEVER forgetting this!" said Bryce, "Wait 'til my brother hears this!"

"Heh, I'll have to call Connie when I get back home tonight," said Hilda, "He's gonna love this story! May not have been that Silver Salmonid, but it was still sooo satisfying."

"Alright!" said Mr. Grizz, "Your final count for this shift's waves are...12, 17, and 16. That's...45 out of 31!"

"Fresh!" said Jayde.

"You've shown incredible work these past few shifts! Therefore, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on becoming true Profreshionals."

"It's an honor, sir!" said Hilda.

"Okay, that's enough shifts for now. I'm about to close up. However, would you mind swinging over later today at around dusk?"

"Huh?"

"That's when the next recruitment drive starts. I'll have a fresh set of weapons ready for ya."

"Why not?" said Bryce.

"Yeah," said Jayde, "We'll be there!"

"I appreciate your dedication, workers. You might just be the greatest crew I've ever had. I'll be sure to put this on your bonus reviews."


	9. Chapter 9: After Dark

The sun was beginning to set as the crew rode their boat into the open sea once again. The sky was now tinted with shades of orange and purple, leading to dark blue sky following close behind it. A full moon appeared on the other side of the sky, rising higher as the sun fell lower.

The crewmates were casually talking amongst themselves, studying a map of the Spawning Grounds as they did so. They pointed out and marked several ideas, forming attack plans and routes of escape. As the boat drew closer to the grounds, the sky continued to darken.

"Why did Mr. Grizz have us work this late...?" said Hilda, yawning.

"No idea. Must be important if it's in the middle of the night, though," said Lucas.

Jayde and Bryce looked stressed, which Hilda immediately noticed. Jayde was specifically focusing on one particular part of the map, a heightened ledge right next to the Egg Basket. "You okay, Jayde?"

"Not sure," said Jayde, "It's just...the Salmonids can get...pretty restless in the dark."

"Eh?"

"It's known as a Salmonid Rush," said Bryce, "It's when all the Salmonids go berserk."

"Berserk?"

"Yeah."

Hilda looked to Lucas. Even he seemed stressed out a bit. It was contagious – Hilda started to feel a sense of dread she hadn't felt before. The air felt different, but not in the threatening way as it did before. It was dreadfully quiet. Too quiet in fact, even for the night. Hilda looked to the sky. Not a single cloud in sight. Still, something felt off.

Hilda shoved it off. This was her seventh shift now, she knew what to expect. Or least, she thought she did. She looked to her crewmates again as the boat began to slow down. They had calmed down a little now, but Hilda still felt their stress.

" _Dammit..._ "

The boat suddenly came to a halt. The crew looked to see the Spawning Grounds, the waning sunlight and rising moonlight reflecting off the metal of the area. They looked at it with interest. Again, that strange feel came. Maybe it was just the night sky, the crew thought. Maybe it was just their imagination tricking them. It didn't matter, the shift was about to begin.

Today's weapon selections were the Splat Dualies, Heavy Splatling, the Sploosh-o-Matic, and the Dynamo Roller. They were given to Hilda, Jayde, Bryce, and Lucas respectively. They were super-jumped to the Spawn Point.

"I don't like this..." said Hilda, "It feels so different at night..." The others agreed.

"Stay sharp, guys," said Lucas, "These skies are perfect for an ambush."

"Alright, egg basket's ready!" said Mr. Grizz, "Quotas are 11, 12, and 14. NOW GET TO WORK!"

"Alright! Alright!" said Hilda, "You don't need to yell at us every time!" Jayde looked at Hilda, surprised. Grizz only growled in frustration, yet a tiny bit of satisfaction could be heard in it, too.

" _Holy mackerel...she talked back to Mr. Grizz..._ " Jayde thought as the boss alarm sounded. The crewmates rushed in different directions, looking for the one who triggered the alarm. Bryce found it first – a Drizzler floating through the sky from the shoreline with an army of Chums and Cohocks following.

"Found him! Over here!" yelled Bryce as the signal was sent. The entire crew came rushing over.

"These guys are ours!" said Lucas alongside Jayde, "You take down the Drizzler!"

"Got it!" said Hilda. She and Bryce rushed at the Drizzler as he landed, their weapons aimed at the umbrella shield. The Drizzler aimed away from them towards Lucas, and fired the missile. As Bryce and Hilda fired at the Salmonid, Lucas failed to notice the missile heading his way.

"Huh?" he said as the missile shot upwards and exploded into an ink storm cloud. Green ink rained down on Lucas and Jayde as they were still surrounded by the Salmonid horde. The ground slowly began to be consumed by the green ink, making movement next to impossible for two Inklings.

"Grrr...dammit!" Jayde said as she attempted to keep the Salmonids away. More and more kept coming, however, and they showed no signs of slowing down. " _There's too many...guess it's time for the Splashdown._ " Jayde was left with no choice but to activate the special, obliterating the ones surrounding them and giving them some more room.

"Much better," said Lucas as he spotted the Drizzler fly above them, covered in orange ink and in a panic, with Hilda and Bryce chasing after it.

"Hey, save your energy guys! I'll get him." Jayde splatted it with the Splatling. As the Golden Eggs dropped, a Stinger's ray suddenly appeared out of nowhere, splatting Jayde and nearly splatting Bryce as well. It came from the other side of the grounds.

"There must be a Stinger over there!" said Hilda as she revived Jayde, "You guys get the eggs! He's mine!" The other three nodded and Hilda rushed away. " _Dammit...there's more of them than usual! What's going on? Are they more active at night or someth-?_ "

She suddenly skidded to a stop when she saw the Stinger was not alone. A trio of Cohocks had showed up as well, with nearly a dozen Chums. They caught sight of her and rushed at her. Hilda nearly panicked, but quickly collected herself and summoned her teammates. "I need some backup! NOW!"

Hilda fired the Dualies at the incoming army, but there were too many. The Stinger took the opportunity and took down Hilda without much issue. The Stinger even snickered at the Inkling's helplessness, but the moment of victory was cut short when it realized it was descending. It quickly met its end from the gunfire of Bryce's Sploosh-o-Matic.

"Got him," Bryce said.

"Uhh...help!?"

"Oh!" Bryce revived Hilda as he grabbed an egg. Hilda thanked him as she too grabbed one. Jayde took the last egg and the four rushed for the basket. Once the eggs were delivered, Jayde caught sight of another incoming horde, this time from the docks. It was led by two Steelheads, one slightly taller than the other. The taller one let out a short but loud roar at the crew and headed for the Inklings. They were followed by numerous Chums and Smallfries.

"Oh boy..." said Jayde.

"Don't just stand there!" said Lucas, "Let's take them out!" The crew rushed for them. Jayde took the shorter Steelhead while Hilda took the taller one. The two beasts didn't fire their bombs immediately. Instead, they seemed to circle them. Hilda and Jayde were dumbfounded.

"What the hell...?" Hilda said to herself. Suddenly, they stopped. They finally charged their bombs, but pulled back as they did. Hilda and Jayde approached and fired, but the Steelheads pointed their head bombs at each other and charged. The collision triggered a massive ink explosion, which blasted back the Steelheads a bit. Hilda narrowly escaped but ended up getting stuck in Salmonid ink. "Not again..." Jayde was not as lucky.

The Steelheads laughed a bit, and then looked at Hilda. She threateningly aimed at them as she wiped ink off her cheek. The small Steelhead prepared a bomb, and Hilda easily shot it down. The tall one had a look of that yelled 'Why would you do that?!' on its face. It quickly turned its head to Hilda, who threw a Splat Bomb towards Jayde to revive her. The Steelhead charged at Hilda, who managed to dive out of the way despite the green ink.

"Jayde!" Hilda yelled. The Steelhead began angrily charging his weapon. Jayde fired her Splatling at the beast, splatting it as well.

"Alright! Got 'em!" Jayde said, "What was up with those two?"

"I don't know. Mr. Grizz?"

"I'm...not sure, kid," said Grizz, "That was abnormal behavior."

"I really don't have a good feeling about this..."

"Forget it. They're taken care of now. Get back to work!" Hilda and Jayde collected the eggs the Steelheads had dropped and rushed them to the basket, Bryce and Lucas, finished with the Salmonid horde, offered their aid. The crew managed to make the quota with 12 eggs in tow, one extra than the quota.

"Alright, nice haul. Now bring me more!" Mr. Grizz barked as the four Inklings returned to the Spawn Point. Hilda got the Dynamo Roller, Jayde got the Sploosh-o-Matic, Bryce got the Heavy Splatling, and Lucas got the Splat Dualies. The sun was gone now. Night had fallen. The full moon suddenly seemed to shine a bit brighter. The sky was starless, and the moonlight lit up the Spawning Grounds. The sea, although darker due to it being night, looked even greener. The air reeked of danger, more so than it ever did before. It made everyone shiver.

"I don't like this..." said Hilda. Tense seconds past, yet no Salmonids appeared. Where are they, Hilda wondered. She was interrupted by a small, glowing bug that flew across her face. Hilda tried to shoo it away, but another came. Then another. Then another. Then some more. Hilda quickly found herself swarmed.

"Wha- Gah! Hey! Get off me you stupid bugs!" Hilda flailed her arms, trying to swat the bugs away.

"Hilda! Stop! They're Glowflies! They're harmless," said Bryce. He was sweating. "But...then that means-"

"Means what?!" Suddenly, Hilda felt the ground rumble a little, like a small earthquake. She heard something like a faint rumble too. "What's that?"

"Oh no..." said Jayde, "Hilda! Brace yourself!"

"For what?!" Suddenly, the water splashed upwards along the shoreline as a massive horde of Chums rushed out from the sea and onto land at furious speeds. Their eyes were blood red and their faces had a look of pure bloodlust. Their numbers were huge, dozens of them spawned one after another, and they came from every direction. They were running right for Hilda, surrounded with the Glowflies.

"RUSH!"

"HUH?! WHAT?!" Hilda panicked. She didn't know to do. She was suddenly jumped by a dozen Salmonids, but it would've only taken one to take her out – their strength was boosted. The Glowflies scattered and rushed for Bryce.

"Everyone! Hurry! To the basket! NOW!" yelled Lucas. The three rushed for an elevated ledge right next to the basket. Hilda tried to maneuver her way through the hordes in her Lifesaver, heading for the basket. Lucas tossed a Splat Bomb towards Hilda, who was revived and swam up the wall to the ledge.

"What's going on?!" Hilda exclaimed, "Why are we all gathered here?!"

"This ramp is the only way they can get to us!" yelled Lucas as he and others fired relentlessly at the incoming Salmonids. "We can just fire at 'em from here without worrying about getting flanked!" Hilda immediately understood and noticed a Goldie among the horde. It looked just as crazy and berserk as the rest, but its eyes were pure white with no pupils.

"Goldie! We gotta take down four of those guys to meet the quota."

"On it!" Hilda said as she flung ink from the Dynamo Roller onto the incoming Salmonids when the Goldie appeared in front of them. It tried to bite Jayde, but she dodged the attack and splatted it. Three Golden Eggs dropped and the crew immediately hurried to grab them all. The mob was ever growing, however. There were at least fifty of them now, and they showed no sign of stopping.

"Urgh, damn!" Jayde said, "I hate this..."

Hilda thought to herself as she witnessed the horde. She felt overwhelmed and only a few seconds had past. She checked her special – it was the Bomb Launcher. She spotted a second Goldie coming from the docks. Hilda activated the Bomb Launcher, and threw bombs at the incoming hordes approaching from the shoreline and docks, splatting as many as she could to lessen the amount of Salmonids gathered at the basket. Bursts of orange ink appeared one after another, and she managed to splat the Goldie in the process.

" _Yes! Now to grab those eggs..._ " Hilda looked to her teammates. The Glowflies were around Lucas now. "I'm gonna go grab those eggs over there!"

"I'll come with you!" Jayde offered. The two ran into the horde, splatting whatever Salmonids they could in the process, but even so they were ignored by the Salmonids.

"What? Why are they ignoring us?"

"They're after the Glowflies. As long as they stay around Lucas and Bryce, we should be good." The two each reached an egg and took it. They had to leave one behind, it would be too risky to try to run back and grab it. Once they brought them back, the flies had switched to Jayde.

"They're still coming!" said Bryce.

"They will be for the next fifty seconds!" said Lucas, "Just calm down! We can do this!"

"Ugh..." Hilda again began to think. She looked at the incoming forces again, and then to her Dynamo Roller. She smirked. "Stay here! I'll get them right in their tracks!"

"Hilda, hold on a second!" But Lucas's warning fell on deaf ears and Hilda slammed her roller to the ground and ran at the incoming army, crushing the Salmonids as they rushed for the Glowflies.

"Ha ha ha! YEAH!" She flattened soldier after soldier after soldier, running head-first into the army. Another Goldie appeared, but Hilda let it pass to ensure that the Golden Eggs it had would be close to the basket. Suddenly, the Glowflies swarmed towards Hilda again.

"Hilda!" Bryce yelled as he jumped off the elevated platform and activated his Inkjet. He fired the blaster at the Salmonids rushing for Hilda. "Get back to the basket while you still can!" Hilda nodded as she ran for the basket, splatting a fourth Goldie in her path. The Glowflies swarmed Bryce, but his Inkjet kept him safely in the air. The Salmonids were continuously splatted by the Inkjet's exhaust.

Once the Inkjet expired, all four were back at the basket, splatting the Salmonids as they arrived. There were 11 eggs in the baskets. They only needed one more.

"Okay..." said Hilda, "One more Goldie should do it..." The ground seemed to rumble a little bit more, and the crew spotted one final charge of Salmonids. They came from the shoreline, and charged in a large cluster consisting of at least 30 Salmonids. It was led by a single Goldie. The Glowflies were now surrounding the entire crew, who were condensed in a single space themselves. " _It's now or never!_ "

Hilda charged right at them with the Dynamo Roller, and the other pushed forward behind her. A fiasco of orange and green ink was created as the two sides collided. The Salmonids eventually became so clustered together they were like a wall. While the crew managed to splat many Salmonids, the two sides were eventually locked in place, each trying to push forward against the other.

"Gah! It's like a barricade!" said Bryce.

"Dammit..." said Jayde.

"I'll handle it!" Lucas said as he activated his special, the Sting Ray, and aimed at the horde. He fired the high-pressured ray of ink, penetrating the makeshift wall. The ray then grew a shockwave, and the entire horde, including the Goldie, was eradicated.

"I think that's the last of 'em for now!" said Bryce, "Hurry!" The crew grabbed the three Golden Eggs dropped by the Goldie, totaling 14 eggs at the end of the wave. "Phew...Made it."

"There's still one more wave," said Lucas as they were sent to the Spawn Point and reassigned weapons. Hilda got the Heavy Splatling, Jayde got the Dynamo Roller, Bryce got the Splat Dualies, and Lucas got the Sploosh-o-Matic. The tide began to rise suddenly, consuming much of the Spawning Grounds.

"Oh, now what...?!" Hilda said. The feeling in the air didn't change. In fact, it seemed to become even more threatening.

Suddenly, a massive vessel appeared out of the water and ascended into the air. It looked like a giant metal crate, with a giant tube coming out of the bottom of it. It was filled with large white boxes. It floated in the air above the water, beyond any weapons reach.

"What in the-?!" said Hilda, "What is that?!"

"The Mothership," said Mr. Grizz, "It's their last resort!"

"Mothership...?"

"Look!" Jayde pointed to the skies. There were several Salmonids with propeller caps, holding the white crates and carrying them out of the ship and towards the Spawning Grounds. "Here come the Chinooks! Shoot them down! They have the eggs!"

"And the crates?"

"They have more troops. They'll be destroyed as well."

"Got it! Let's move out!" The crew took aim at the incoming Chinooks. One by one they appeared to drop off their crates, and one by one they were shot down. The crew picked up every egg that dropped and delivered them to the basket. Some managed to drop their crates, and Salmonids began to jump out. The crates were appropriately destroyed. After the crew had gotten about seven eggs, the Mothership started to advance.

"The Mothership is headed for the egg basket!" Mr. Grizz warned. The crew looked to the Mothership. It was rapidly closing in on it, the tube of its bottom activating, revealing it to be some sort of vacuum. "MY EGG BASKET!" Grizz was screaming now. "STOP IT BEFORE IT TAKES THEM BACK!"

The crew rushed for the basket after quickly taking out some more Chinooks, delivering four more eggs and arriving just as the ship was almost there. "BRING IT!" yelled Hilda as the four fired ink at the ship, slowly covering it in orange ink. It attached its vacuum tube to the top of the basket, beginning to suck them into the Mothership. "HURRY!" Eventually, they successfully deterred the ship away, but it managed to leave with two Golden Eggs. There were now nine eggs.

"Alright...we only need three more to finish the job," said Jayde.

"Leave it to us!" said Lucas as he and Bryce ran to the shore. "Hey Bryce, give me a lift!"

"With pleasure!" Bryce replied as he nodded and activated his Inkjet again, and Lucas climbed on top. Standing atop the machine, he whipped up the Sting Ray.

" _Now it's our turn to do something crazy!_ " Bryce maneuvered around blasting Chinooks while Lucas aimed at the Mothership itself. It did nothing to the ship, but the Sting Ray's ability to penetrate walls allowed it to take out many of the Chinooks already inside. Lots of Golden Eggs began to spill out of the ship, landing on the Spawning Grounds for Hilda and Jayde to collect.

"Wow!" Hilda said.

"Ha! Inkjet plus Sting Ray!" said Jayde, "I like it!" The two specials soon expired, sending both Inklings plummeting back to the ground.

"Nice!" said Hilda.

"Don't mention it!" said Bryce, "We've been planning that ever since you two mixed the Inkjet with the Splashdown!" The four gathered the remaining eggs and sent them to the basket. Now, they had 19 eggs in the basket. But the Chinooks stopped coming. The Mothership floated there, not moving.

"Heh," said Hilda "Maybe they've finally learned to suck up their defeat." Suddenly, the Mothership grew a large claw arm from the bottom next to the vacuum.

"EH?!" said Lucas.

"Uhhh...well, that's new!" said Jayde. The ship then headed right for the basket again. The crew fired at it, but it wasn't working this time. The claw suddenly grabbed hold of the Egg Basket.

"NO! IT'S TRYING TO STEAL THE WHOLE THING!" yelled Mr. Grizz. The ship then ascended upwards, pulling on the egg basket. "GET RID OF IT!"

"We're trying to!" yelled Jayde, "Our weapons aren't working!"

" _It's not using the vacuum,_ " Lucas thought, " _Its defenses must lower when it's activated. So...it's still in defense mode! That's why our weapons are useless!_ " Cracks started to form around the egg basket as the ship pulled harder to yank it upwards.

"NO! NO! NO!" Grizz said.

Hilda thought. She had to think fast, or all their work for the wave would be for nothing. She spotted Jayde's remaining Splashdown special, and then looked back at the Mothership. An idea sparked in her head, but was risky.

" _I've only got one shot at this._ " Hilda ran to Jayde. "Hey! I need to borrow your special!"

"What?!" Jayde said.

"Trust me! This is gonna work!"

"...Okay. Whatever crazy idea you've got, good luck!" Jayde offered the special pouch, and Hilda got into position. "Okay...let's try this." She then prepared to super jump.

"What the?" said Lucas, "Hilda! That won't work! The magnetic field will-"

"I know! It's worth a shot! I just need to aim carefully..." The ship yanked even harder. The cracks enlarged. The basket was apart to break off from the ground. Hilda got a close look at the ship's position and got ready. " _Ugh...this is harder than I thought without my senses..._ " She waited a few moments and then launched herself upwards. Her aim was just right, although not perfect. As Hilda was about to land in the ship, she tore open the Splashdown pouch and ascended a few feet upwards before striking down on the ship like a missile. The sheer force of the impact destroyed all the white crates as Golden Eggs flew everywhere and the ship began to break down. The claw let go of the basket as the vessel lost control.

"Holy..." said Jayde as she noticed the tide suddenly going down. Hilda jumped out of the ship as it began to smoke.

"Take cover!" she yelled as she landed. The four ran to the lower area of the Spawning Grounds, now above water once more, and hid behind a wall. A loud boom and bright flash of light followed shortly after, with various debris and shrapnel flying across the air.

After a few moments, the crew returned to the main area and saw the ruined remains of the Mothership, now a pile of parts, on fire and completely destroyed. Pieces of the vessel and Golden Eggs littered the ground.

"Whoa..." said Bryce.

"Holy shit!" said Lucas, "Hilda! You- I- Wow...!"

"...Yeah?" said Hilda.

"Looks like I underestimated you! That was INSANE!"

"Talk about a badass!" said Bryce.

"Holy carp, kid," said Mr. Grizz, "Out of all the workers her at Grizzco, you might just be the craziest and greatest employee I've ever seen. No crew has ever truly taken down a Mothership. Hilda, you and your crew have made history tonight! You have now become a true profreshional."

"Thank you, sir," said Hilda.

"Now, let's get you kids back to the boat. Y'all could use a rest. You earned it."


	10. Chapter 10: Break

**_A/N: I am incredibly sorry this chapter's so late! Some things got in the way of my writing and I didn't have much time to work on it._**

* * *

 _The Next Day_

"So you took down a giant ship filled with Salmonids using just one Splashdown?!" said Connie over the phone.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Hilda, sitting by the Grizzco building, now closed. "I had some help of course, though. If I didn't have my crewmates by my side I wouldn't have made it to the Mothership in the first place."

"That's...amazing! How much are you makin' for this?"

"A good few thousand a drive. Plus a few pieces of gear, some food tickets, and some ability chunks to go with it."

"Jeez...you're loaded."

"Heh, don't worry. I'll probably be blowing it off once the next set of weapons release."

The two siblings had talked for about a good half an hour now. It was noon on the weekend, and a significant amount of Inklings were in the Square, entering and exiting the Deca Tower, the shops, and the Shoal. Hilda's crewmates were elsewhere, participating in Turf Wars and Ranked Battles. Hilda herself was waiting for Grizzco's gates to open back up; it was scheduled to open in a few minutes.

"Well, nice talking to you, sis," said Connie.

"Yeah, you too. Good luck at the tournament today."

"Thanks!"

"Later." Hilda hung up the phone and stood up, looking at Grizzco's gate. " _Just a few more minutes, now._ "

"Hey!" yelled a voice. It was Bryce, running up to Hilda.

"Bryce! I assume you finished your matches."

"Yeah. My team sucked today, but all that Flyfish-dodging has really helped with the Tenta Missiles."

"Couldn't agree more."

"Have you done any Turf Wars today? I haven't seen you in the lobby."

"No. I've been reading up on the field guide. I asked Mr. Grizz if I could borrow it to take home so I could study it. I hoped to find something about you-know-who inside, but I found nothing."

"You mean the silver guy that gave the nasty scar? Damn...I forgot about that."

"I couldn't believe I forgot, too. It is the one reason I signed up in the first place...besides earning some extra money here and there. But it's a bit different now. I can't exactly not blame myself for it. But can bet I'm still looking for him. Like a sea hawk."

"And you'll tear him apart once you find him, right? That's what it seemed like you wanted to do."

"More than anything. It's actually starting to really irritate me that we haven't found anything. Not even a trace of him."

"Don't worry, we'll find him one day. We have to."

The two chatted for a little while longer until the gates were opened. Jayde and Lucas arrived shortly after. The four entered the Grizzco building, where Mr. Grizz told them to sit tight, as they had no shifts yet but were allowed to stay as they pleased. Hilda went to the meeting room to review the Salmonid Field Guide again. Since she failed to find information on the Silver Salmonid she had sought after, she decided to read on the rest of the Salmonids for future reference. One section in particular caught her eye – the one discussing Gushers and the Goldie Seeking.

"Hey, Hilda." Jayde said as she sat down next to her, holding two drinks – a Special-Up Smoothie and an Ink-Charge Melon – and some papers. "Lookin' at the Field Guide, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I got ya a drink from the Crust Bucket."

"Hey, thanks!" Hilda took the Ink-Charge Melon as Jayde sipped her own drink.

"No problem." Jayde looked at the guide. She noticed Hilda was very focused on it. "Are you looking at something?"

"Yeah. Look at this." She pointed to a small excerpt of the Supplementary Information. It read, ' _Salmonids obtained the technology to create Gushers through trade with Octarians._ ' It struck Hilda as incredibly interesting for some reason. She knew very well about the Octarian's unique and almost-futuristic technology; she had heard stories straight from the source. After all, one of Inkopolis's most popular idols was raised in it.

"Trade with the Octarians...? I must have missed that when I read it. What about it?"

"Think about it. That...claw thing the Mothership had yesterday. You said you'd never seen it before, right?"

"No. It caught all of us off guard...but I guess you already knew that. Hmm...Are you saying that they gained that claw through Octarian trade?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. At least, that's what I think. Hell, it's possible the Octarians might have helped them build some of their other weapons and equipment, too. Like the Mothership itself."

"Huh...that's interesting. But...why are you so interested in this?"

"I'm not sure. It just caught my eye. Besides, most of them are surprisingly simpleminded. I don't see how they'd build a ship like that. Not on their own, anyway."

"Huh! I didn't know you were so observant, Hilda."

"Me neither until I read all this." Hilda chuckled and took a sip of her drink.

"I see. Anyway, I wanted to show you something."

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Grizz talked to me today. He said he was working on a special set of gear for our crew as an extra reward for becoming one of Grizzco's best yesterday. He gave me some designs and images to show you."

"Me specifically?"

"No, I already showed the guys. Only one who hasn't seen 'em is you." Jayde laid the papers on the table. One of them was some blueprints; the others were all sketches of how it would look. They showed a modified version of the standard Grizzco gear, made with more sturdy materials. The white parts of the outfit were now black instead, and green parts were now purple. The straps to the overalls were made of stainless steel, similar to a watch. The suit also seemed to have some sort of armor included underneath the suit as well. A black leather belt was also included, which helped hold the Lifesaver, now with 50% more ink capacity.

"Huh...interesting. Looks mighty fresh if you ask me! Though purple is an odd color choice to replace the green with."

"Yeah, true. But hey, I'm not complaining," said Jayde, "It looks awesome!"

"Heh! Can't argue with that."

"I also heard that Grizz has got a new weapon in development, too. But it's just a rumor."

"Really? What kind?"

"Not sure. I think it's some kind of rapid-fire weapon. Something that can plow through Salmonids easily."

"Can't wait to see it!" Hilda and Jayde continued to chat in the meeting room, discussing their plans and the designs. The day went by rather slowly – Hilda looked at the clock at one point and found only an hour had passed when it felt like two. The two girls were later joined by Bryce and Lucas, who decided to join in the conversation. The four were discussing when suddenly, Mr. Grizz called.

"ATTENTION!" yelled Mr. Grizz over the intercom, "I need to see Crew 27A immediately! I repeat, 27A to me! NOW!"

"Must be urgent if he's yelling like that," said Bryce. The four rushed out of the room to the bear statue, and gathered around it.

"Alright, look. I hate to drag you into work when I promised you a rest, but I need ya for one shift today."

"What for?" Hilda asked.

"Earlier today before I opened the gates, I went to monitor the Salmonid habitat in the Restricted Zone as usual. And to my astonishment, and slight excitement, the sensors were picking up a MASSIVE Salmonid signal, coming from just one point. I assumed that it was either a huge chunk of Salmonids gathered in one place, or some new Boss Salmonid of some sort."

"Where was it?"

"An isolated area of metal that isn't close to any of the other areas. I haven't thought up a name for it yet. Anyway, since the signal was so strong, I sent out my best crew, at least until recently, to deal with it. Crew 38B – one of the first to reach a 200% Profreshional ranking here."

There was a brief moment of silence. Though Hilda wasn't familiar with Crew 38B, the rest of the crew knew who they were – some of the best of the best. "I remember those guys," said Lucas, "I remember when we always strived to be like them."

"You were almost part of it," said Jayde.

"Huh?" Hilda said, "You were part of another crew once, Lucas?"

"Almost, like Jayde said, but not quite," said Lucas.

"Yeah, yeah, but anyway," Mr. Grizz continued, "I sent them to investigate what the hell was going on, and I gave the leader a...special weapon. But when they got close, I lost contact with 'em."

"And...?" said Bryce, worried.

"...I haven't heard from them since." There was another silence.

"When did they leave?" Hilda asked.

"About two hours ago, right after the gates opened."

"D-Did something happen?" Bryce said.

"Of course something happened, ya idiot! That's why I'm se-" Mr. Grizz suddenly stopped. "W-Wait a minute...I'm setting something." Mr. Grizz checked the radar. To his astonishment, it was the boat of the crew returning. "Ha! Right on que! They're here! Go! Get to the docks!" Hilda and co. rushed to the docking area and found the boat parking, but it looked damaged. It was as if something had hit the boat on its way out; it was barely still running. Aboard were the members of Crew 38B, wounded. They hopped off the ship onto the deck, one of them clearly too weak to land on her feet.

"What in the-?" said Lucas, "You guys look terrible!"

"At least they're alive!" said Mr. Grizz, "I want a report immediately! What happened out there?!"

The crew explained what had happened. On their way over, they were surprised by the sheer barrenness surrounding the area as they approached, and where simply minding their own business when the connection to base started to go haywire, eventually losing it entirely. When they arrived, nothing was there. It was just a single circular platform, like an arena, littered with some blocks, pillars, and walls acting as cover. It wasn't long before they were caught in an ambush.

"So you were attacked out of the blue?" said Hilda.

"Yes," said the crew's leader, a pale-skinned, brown-eyed Inkling boy, whose default-style hair reverted to his default color, lime green, upon arrival. "It was hell. That's all I can describe it as. Pure hell. Not even a full special weapon attack was enough."

"What was it?!" asked Mr. Grizz, "What attacked?"

"Something...big. Not giant, but pretty damn huge. It was like...an amalgamation of Splatlings, Tenta Missiles, and a Sting Ray. All in one. Like a bigger, heavily-armored, heavily-upgraded Flyfish. And he brought friends with 'em, too. Boss Salmonids. Lots of them, too many of them. We're lucky we survived long enough to get back to the boat before things got even more hectic, if they even could."

Silence followed. Everyone was stunned. What he had described sounded like a super-weapon, but nothing like what they had encountered before. Hilda was especially intrigued; it seemed like something built purely for slaughter. Such a weapon in the hands of someone as crazy as the Salmonids was bad. Really bad. A thought suddenly emerged in her mind.

"Who was the pilot?" she asked.

"I didn't see. I was too busy trying to figure out how to take the damn thing down. It was too fast to hit it with a Sting Ray, and it flew too high for our bombs to reach. Whenever it was in position, it would just move outta the way!"

"I saw him..." said another crewmate, a girl with several bruises on her face. "It was...like a big Chum. Nowhere near the size of a Cohock, though. I couldn't make out of all him, but he had some sort of gold helmet on and his scales were...what, silver? Gray?"

"Stop right there," Hilda said.

"What?"

"Say that again."

"His scales looked silver...?"

Hilda's expression changed, her eyes widened, as did the other members of the crew. " _It's HIM._ "

"You don't mean...?" said Jayde.

"He was out of the machine for a few seconds at one point. When he was, I saw something etched onto the side of the helmet. I think it said something like...umm...A-Ares? Or...something like that."

"Is he still there?" Hilda said coldly.

"I imagine so," the lime-green Inkling interrupted, "He was firing at our boat as we left. Some of the stuff on that weapon fired projectiles that were...more than just ink. It was like...a mix of ink and real ammunition." He stood up and looked at Hilda, immediately noticing her face. "Whoa now, I know that face. And I know what you're thinking. Don't bother, it's way too dangerous. You'd have more chances surviving a rush and a mothership at once."

"Tough luck. Nothing's gonna stop me from confronting him."

"I don't know what your deal is with that pilot, but listen. I've seen some shit, girl, more than you know, or could ever imagine. And that weapon was right there along with some of the craziest stuff I've seen. Trying to fight that thing with your crew is suicide, but fighting it by yourself is just begging for a death wish. Trust me."

"I didn't say I was going alone. I'm crazy, but not that crazy. We agreed that if we ever found him, we'd take him down with all we've got."

"Yeah!" said Jayde, "We can take him!"

"You're making a mistake!" said the lime-green Inkling, "I'm telling you, it's not worth it!"

"Grr..." said Hilda, "Look, I don't know you, what you've been through, or even your name. And frankly, I don't care. But mark my words: I'm doing this. We're doing this."

"...This is your last warning, girl. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

"I know how deadly he is, I've seen him before. We can take him."

The lime-green Inkling grunted. "There's just no arguing with you, huh?"

"Nope."

"I guess you are crazy. Fine, but I won't have any pity for you when you come back soaked in your own-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH," said Mr. Grizz, "Stop arguing you two, we've already wasted enough time! Daniel, you and your crew return to base and patch yourselves up." The crew followed their orders, with Daniel and Hilda glaring at each other. Lucas was familiar with the sight. "Crew 27A, looks like I'm giving you guys your upgraded suits early. I'm sending you in."

"Understood," said Hilda.

"You can count on us to bring that weapon down," said Bryce, "Although, usually when Daniel warns of something, he's true to his word."

"I know," said Mr. Grizz, "That's why I'm giving you the suits. Oh, and be sure to pick a weapon you're good at for this. Whatever it is you're facing, I'm confident you'll get the job done. Oh, and if you can find any Golden Eggs over there, bring over as many as you can!"

"Got it!" said the four as they rushed for the locker rooms, located to the left from the entrance of the Grizzco building, to change into their new gear. Each of their suits fit surprisingly well. They felt a bit heavier due to their increased defense, but otherwise felt mostly the same. Once the suits were on, Grizz instructed them to head for a hidden room to the right of the Grizzco entrance.

The entrance was accessed by pressing a button on one of the control panels, revealing a large room without windows. It was lit up with a bright orange tint, and the walls were stacked with weapons – several for every kind. Shooters, rollers, chargers, blasters, splatlings, dualies, sloshers, brellas, all of them right there. The crew was astonished.

"Alright, grab one that ya like and get movin'," said Mr. Grizz, "We're pressed for time here." Jayde picked her weapon first, the Heavy Splatling. Bryce was hesistant on his choice, trying to decide between the standard Splat Roller or the Carbon Roller. He ultimately chose the former. Lucas went for the Tri-Slosher, checking to ensure it wasn't damaged before leaving. Finally, Hilda looked around for her long-trusted main weapon. It took a little bit to find it, she eventually discovered it: the Splash-o-Matic.

"Hilda, I'm giving your crew an additional weapon. It's a prized possession that I constructed myself a while back. I wanted to bring it into the Ink Sports League, but it was 'too overpowered' and carp like that."

"What is it?"

"I call it the Grizzco Blaster. It's a super-rapid-fire blaster-class weapon, built specifically for taking down the Salmonids. It's already on the boat; you should be able to grab it when you need it. Oh, and I'm giving you some special...uh...special weapons, too."

"What?"

"Just take 'em. You'll know how to use 'em. They're on that desk over there."

Hilda looked to see a small desk in the corner of the room. It looked new, as if placed there just recently. There were four golden Special Weapon packs on them. Hilda picked them up. "What are they?"

"Hehe...you'll be pleasantly surprised, kid."

"Okay..." Hilda took them and attached them to her belt. She exited the room and met up with the crewmates on the boat. "Alright! Everyone ready?!"

"Ready as we'll ever be!" said Bryce.

"We're gonna kick some serious Salmonid ass!" said Jayde.

"Perfect!" said Hilda.

"Listen workers," said Mr. Grizz, "Chances are I'll lose contact with you like I did for Crew 38B. So...once you're there, you'll probably be on your own."

"Don't worry. We can handle it."

"...Okay. Then let's get moving."

* * *

 ** _A/N: Chapter 11 is taking much, MUCH longer than expected to finish up. I'm incredibly sorry for the inconvenience, but I promise I'll have it done soon! It's almost finished, so it shouldn't be TOO long. With that said, thank you all for your patience!_**


	11. Chapter 11: We Are Slayers

**_N/A: I am extremely sorry for the tardiness of this chapter! Aside from things going on in life, this chapter has gone through several revisions to get to the final product and it took a while to write. There's just one more chapter after this, and I'll be sure not to take a month to release it this time._**

 ** _With that said, thank you all for your patience and enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

The boat was now on the open sea; nothing but dirty green water as far as the eye could see. The buildings of Inkopolis were now far in the distance, just barely visible as a thin fog started to roll in. A weak wind rushed in, bringing a chill with it, causing Hilda to shiver a little bit. Even the sky seemed to darken as they drew near the area they were headed to.

"It's getting kind of chilly here," said Jayde, "It's like the temperate went down like...5°F all of a sudden."

"Yeah," said Hilda. It felt almost as if the chill had managed to sneak its way into her suit and up and down her spine. Something felt very unsettling, as if what they were about to go up against didn't sound unsettling enough. At the same time, a fire of rage started within her, clashing with the chill. Hilda felt her heart thumping in her chest, and felt her hands clench into fists.

" _W-Why do I feel like this? I've been at this before. It can't be that bad! Besides, I'm finally gonna be able to throw that sucker into oblivion. So why am I so-_ "

"You're getting fired up, aren't you?" Jayde said.

"What? Of course I am! But I...I don't know. I feel so...I-It's like my head doesn't even know what to feel."

"You're scared, Hilda," said Lucas, "I can tell."

"S-Scared? Seriously? How would you know that?!"

"Because I am, too."

Hilda looked at him. He didn't look scared at all. "What?"

"We all are. Do you really think it's possible not be a little afraid in a place like this? We don't even know where we are, or what the full capabilities of this so-called 'war machine' Daniel described are. Plus, Mr. Grizz lost contact with us a few minutes ago. We're on our own. No way out. Only way we get out of this, is to stay alive."

"Jeez, Lucas..." said Bryce, "You're not really helping our chills, here."

"I'm just saying."

Jayde sighed. "Look, Hilda," she said as she put her hand on Hilda's shoulder, "Just promise us one thing. Don't go berserk on us. Okay?"

Hilda looked to Jayde. She was silent for a minute. She tried to calm the emotions running through her head - anger, vengefulness, determination, and most surprisingly to her, fear. "...I...Okay. I'll try." She clenched her fists even tighter, tightening the grip on her Splash-o-Matic. "Now let's go kill a Silver Salmonid."

Several more minutes passed before the boat finally halted. The crewmates each grabbed their respective weapon and looked to see where they were headed. The fog was a bit thicker now, but some sunlight that managed to break through the cloudy skies lit up the area a tiny bit.

It was a large, circular chunk of metal that resembled some sort of arena. Scattered throughout were several pillars and blocks of varying sizes, mostly around the edges. There were four large antenna-like pillars around the edge of the platform, one for each direction: north, east, west, and south. They were even labeled. The entire area looked new, as if just recently constructed, yet no Salmonids were in sight.

Hilda and the others super-jumped to the metal island. There was no Spawn Point, so they each landed at different parts of the arena. They met back at the center area, which had a large symbol plastered on the ground. It looked like a Salmonid wielding two guns, along with a horde of Salmonids behind it. Something was written in an unreadable language on a banner across the symbol.

"What is this place?" said Bryce as the crew looked around. It looked completely barren, not a bit of life to be seen. Where were the Salmonids, and more importantly, where was the Silver Salmonid?

"Something's here," said Lucas, "I can feel it. It's toying with us."

"We should be prepared," said Hilda, "This is it, guys. We gotta-" Suddenly, a small rumble was felt and heard. It lasted only a moment, but it was well noticeable. It was followed by another, slightly stronger rumble. Then another, and another, and another. Something was coming.

"Everyone get ready!" Jayde yelled, "It's coming!" The rumbles kept getting more powerful until something massive emerged from the sea. A gigantic machine rose up from the waters and approached the crew. It was a four-legged behemoth, with bulky legs attached to a lower assembly carrying a large upper body. The legs created a patch of Salmonid ink with each step it took. The cockpit was fitted with two Splatlings and two Tenta Missile launchers, one of each on each side, just as Daniel had warned. A Sting Ray was mounted atop the cockpit, and numerous ink tanks were placed along the back of the body. Additionally, what looked like thrusters seemed to be on the bottom of the upper body. The cockpit itself was hemi-spherical, and looked big enough to fit two Salmonids.

"H-H-Holy..." said Bryce.

"It's...It's freakin' HUGE!" said Jayde.

"What is that thing?!" Lucas asked.

Hilda was frozen, but her face showed nothing but pure hate. She stared at the machine, specifically its cockpit. The grip on her weapon tightened as the cockpit suddenly opened. Some steam was released from the machine's vents as it did so, and the Silver Salmonid was seen at last.

He looked different from the last time Hilda saw him, however. He was wearing a gold armored chestplate alongside a matching golden helmet. He wore the standard overalls worn by Chums, only colored black instead of green. His fins looked longer than the average Chum, and he had a triple mohawk compared to the usual single mohawk. He looked bigger than last time too, with his height just a little bit taller than Hilda. His eyes seemed slightly bloodshot, and he looked far calmer than the other Salmonids.

"You," said Hilda hostilely, "It's been a while."

"Hmm?" the Salmonid scuffed, "I have seen that face before..." His voice was raspy, and very unsettling. "You're the little one who I bit a while ago!"

"I see that...your speaking has improved."

"Studying Inkling language isn't that hard when you're always at war with them, you know. Out of all the Inklings that Grizzco's got, I never imagines I'd see you again. How fantastic!"

Hilda pointed her Splash-o-Matic at the Silver Salmonid. "Let's get down to business. Now."

"Oh, how cute! The little Inkling wants to play. Great! I just finished taking out a group just like ya. Pathetic, y'know. I always thought your species was stronger and braver. I guess I was wrong."

"Says the guy in the giant super destroyer!" yelled Bryce.

"Oh, this? This is not exactly mine. I'm...borrowing it, you could say."

"Borrowing it?" Hilda asked.

"Yep. Got it from some...friends at NOA."

"NOA? What the hell is that?"

" _NOA...why does that sound familiar...?_ " Bryce thought to himself.

"Nothing important right now. What matters is that this baby here is gonna be your one-way ticket to hell."

"Really?" Hilda said, "Well how about this? I'M going to be YOUR ticket to hell! How's that sound, eh?!"

"Persistent, aren't you? You must be mad at that bite. Mmm...I remember it too well. It was...delicious."

"SHUT UP!" Hilda threw a Splat Bomb, but the Silver Salmonid caught it and tossed it away.

"Nice aim, but I have better reflexes."

Hilda was furious now. "ALRIGHT YOU LITTLE SHITHEAD, YOU HAVE IT COMING!"

"Hilda, calm down!" Jayde said. Hilda didn't listen.

"Oh, let her talk," said the Silver Salmonid, "And by the way, my name is Ares, not Shithead."

"We don't care what your name is!" Lucas yelled as he and the rest of the crew aimed their weapons at Ares. "Enough talk! We have a job to do, and that's to take you OUT."

"Ah! Now we're talkin'! Alright then, let's get this party started!" Ares closed the cockpit and the machine sprang back to life, equipping, activating, and readying its entire arsenal.

"Alright, LET'S DO THIS!" yelled Hilda.

"As you wish, darling!" And with the press of a button, all hell broke loose. The Splatling guns fired – they didn't even have to charge. They fired at a rate unseen – twice as fast as a Hydra Splatling, twice as powerful too. The Inklings fired, but it was useless. Bryce and Jayde were almost immediately dispatched, and Hilda and Lucas were forced to take cover behind a pillar.

As Lucas signaled the others to come to his location for revival, Hilda glared at the machine as it came closer. She tried to run back out.

"Hilda!" Lucas said as she yanked Hilda back behind the pillar.

"HEY! Let me go!"

"Unh-uh! Stay here! That thing just nearly took us out with its Splatling guns ALONE. Too dangerous!"

"But I have to-!"

"Hilda, focus here!" said Jayde as she and Bryce arrived in their Lifesavers. Lucas revived them. "We've never fought this thing before. We need a plan to take it down, now that we know what it is!" Hilda huffed but tried to keep still.

"INCOMING!" Bryce yelled as he spotted Tenta Missiles, sixteen of them, plummeting at them. The four ran and ducked for cover. They were attacked by the tiny missiles in sets of four. After four tried to strike simultaneously, another four appeared to try again. Hilda barely had it, wiping off the Salmonid ink as she rushed at the machine again.

Ares fired the Splatling guns again, their aim targeting Hilda as she circled him. Her eyes were locked at the cockpit. They were locked on Ares' insane smile. Her teeth were gritted as she rage grew with each passing second he was still alive. She tried to throw a bomb into the Tenta Missile launchers, but they were too high. She tried firing ink at the machine; it didn't slow it down or even stick. The beast seemed unstoppable.

Jayde and Bryce arrived, the former equipped with an Inkjet. Ares closed the Tenta Missile launchers and activated its Blaster. He fired at Jayde while she was airborne. It wasn't the fastest-firing Blaster ever, in fact as was only slightly slower than the Rapid Blaster, but its range was incredible. It traveled five times farther than the Range Blaster's bullets, and was about twice as big, too. Jayde was shocked.

"That thing's got everything, doesn't it?!" Jayde said, astonished and annoyed.

"Damn right!" Ares replied as he fired a Blaster shot and it hit Jayde point-blank as she tried to evade it. It struck the back of the Inkjet, sending her flying into a wall. Lucas rushed to help her while Bryce tried to hold him back. Hilda was still trying to take the thing down with her weapon, even though it was pretty clear nothing was happening.

Hilda grunted as she tried to at least make a dent in the machine, but to no avail. Ares noticed her by one of the legs and gave her a slight kick that launched her a good few meters away. This only made her madder. Hilda rushed again, but this time was stopped by Jayde, who locked her arms around Hilda's.

"Hilda! Stop it!" Jayde yelled, "You're gonna get yourself killed!" Hilda struggled against Jayde, trying to rush at Ares. But Jayde wouldn't let go. Bryce and Lucas tried to distract Ares, who activated the Sting Ray and fired with deadly accuracy. It too was much more powerful than the standard version, and was faster moving but not that much more damage-dealing. The shockwave appeared instantly rather than taking a moment, however.

"Jayde! Let me go! NOW!"

"No!"

"Why?! Aren't we here to kill that son of a bitch?!"

"Hilda, I told you not to go berserk! I'm telling you! Your rage is only gonna blind you!"

"So what?!" Hilda continued to wiggle and squirm in an attempt to break free of Jayde's grasp, and she was getting close to doing so. Ares' machine continued attacking Bryce and Lucas, meanwhile. Bryce had had enough by now, and prepared to Super-Jump just like Hilda did before, intending to activate the Splashdown. He launched into the air, which Ares immediately noticed. Before Bryce could plummet downwards, the machine activated Bomb Launchers and fired a Burst Bomb at Bryce, hitting him before he could even activate the special.

Ares then turned his attention back to Hilda and Jayde. He aimed the bomb launchers at them, and fired two more Burst Bombs. The blasts separated the two, knocking them to the ground. But it didn't splat them. Hilda and Jayde tried to get up.

"See ya later, Inkling!" Ares said as he charged up a shot from his blaster, aimed at Jayde. Hilda managed to get to her knees when she noticed the charging shot. Ares then fired a massive ink bullet at Jayde. Hilda rushed up and ran to her. As she did so, one of the golden Special packs on her belt ripped open. Sparkles appeared as a familiar, transparent, spherical shield surrounded Hilda as she shoved Jayde out of the way. The bullet hit Hilda, but it was too strong for the shield to resist and it shattered as Hilda was launched away like a rocket. She flew through the air, dazed, until she plummeted onto the boat, shaking it slightly from the impact. Hilda tried to get back up, but passed out before she could.

Jayde tried to process what had just happened. She shook her head as she got back up to her feet. "What in-" she said to herself, "W-Was that a-" She suddenly turned her head towards the boat, remembering Hilda got launched. "Hilda!...Hilda! Can you hear me?! Are you okay?!"

No response.

"Oh shit..." She was interrupted by the sound of incoming Tenta Missiles, and quickly dodged to the side to evade them. Jayde spotted the machine attacking Bryce and Lucas, struggling to even damage the beast. She rushed to their aid immediately.

"About time!" yelled Lucas, "Where's Hilda?!"

"She's down!"

"WHAT?!" Before he said say any more, the Sting Ray struck him, splatting him. Bryce and Jayde started panicking. Two of their crewmates were downed, and one of them was too far to even see if she was even okay. Bryce suggested they separate, and they did so, circling the machine. Ares chose to focus on Bryce. He smiled as he activated a set of three charger-like guns aimed at one point, in this case Bryce. It charged quickly as its shot was strong. He dodged the shots the first few times, but was finally hit and splatted.

Jayde, blank on what to do, followed her only instinct – to run and get out of the enemy's sight. She dove behind one of the walls before Ares could spot her.

"Playing Hide and Seek now, are we?" Ares taunted. "Come out, come out, wherever you are, little Inkling. You don't have much time left, after all." Jayde gripped her weapon. She was at a loss of what to do. She wanted to revive her teammates, but was afraid of getting splatted herself before she could get to them. What could she do to-?

"Found you..." Jayde's eyes widened as she saw the machine right next to her, towering over her with its Splatlings aimed right at her. "Nice try, Inkling. Adios, now."

 _Meanwhile..._

"Ugh...my head..." Hilda said as she came to, clutching her head. "What the hell happened?" She looked around as her vision focused. She spotted the area, and the massive machine patrolling it. She almost immediately realized the lack of her crewmates – and knew what happened instantly. "Wh-What?! They've been wiped out?!" She stood up, but then her back felt funny, as if something was hanging off her back loosely.

Hilda looked over her shoulder. Her Lifesaver seemed missing. She looked over her other shoulder, and there it was, still on her back. But it felt lighter. She took it off her back and examined it. Her eyes widened.

The Lifesaver was torn.

Something must have hit it while she launched, or when she landed. Perhaps it broke upon her impact. The ring was cut and deflated, making it useless. "Oh no...No no no no no no NO!" Hilda tried to put the ring back together, blowing it up even though it was clear it wouldn't work. In a small burst of anger, she tossed it off the boat. Hilda then looked back to the metal island. The monstrosity was simply walking around as if Ares had nothing better to do. Maybe he was waiting for her.

Hilda collapsed to her knees. "No...Have...Have we lost?!" She felt hopeless. She then looked to her right and spotted a large bag. She stood back up and took a look inside. There was something in it and she reached inside to grab it. It was a blaster; a bare, almost unfinished-looking one. It looked like a skeleton of a Blaster, with the innards of the weapon exposed. It seemed handmade. Four tubes of something glowing gold were stationed along the top of the weapon.

"Wait a second...THIS piece of junk is the Grizzco Blaster?" Hilda was perplexed. "This thing looks just somethin' out of a junk yard...How the hell is this thing gonna-" She pressed down on trigger just slightly, and the weapon unloaded. Its fire rate was beyond anything Hilda had ever seen. Just one slight pull resulted in three shots one right after the other. It was even faster than the Clash Blaster.

"...Holy carp...The fire rate on this thing is-"

"Amazing?" said a voice, through intense static.

"Huh?! Mr. Grizz?!"

"Yeah, it's me kid! But the connection's still haywire. Our time is short."

"So...what's happening?"

"You're the only one who hasn't been splatted, apparently. Look kid, you've only got one shot at this, and that weapon could help at least a little."

"You're breaking up, sir. But...I think I get it."

"Listen closely, I don't have much time left before I'm forced to disconnect again. A threw another extra weapon in there last minute, the Grizzco Brella. But this next part is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Use those Golden Specials I gave you! I snuck two more in the bag with the Blaster and Brella at the last minute too. Use them! They're the orig-" His voice was then overtaken by static.

"Sir? Sir?!" Contact had been lost again. "Now we're really on our own..." She grabbed the Golden Special packages. She noticed the ripped one. "Ah carp..." She looked closely at the label on it. Her eyes widened again. "Bubbler?!" She looked at the rest. "Th-These are original Special Weapons...but...how did he-" Hilda looked at the machine again. " _Maybe..._ " She looked at them again and grinned as she reattached them to her belt.

She took in a deep breath as she strapped the Splash-o-Matic to her back and grabbed the other two Golden Specials and put them, alongside the original three that were left, on her belt. She took out the Grizzco Brella, which looked more like a shotgun with a severely withered skeleton of an umbrella attached to it. She strapped that to her back as well. " _I feel like an overpowered tank right now,_ " Hilda thought, " _But then again, I guess you have to be one to beat one._ " She clenched her fists again.

" _Alright...calm down...Like Jayde said, anger's just gonna blind me...like it just did. We've only got one shot at this._ " Her hands softened. " _Okay...First, I'll hit him with a little surprise. Then I'll revive everyone else. Then, we hit him with everything we've got._ " She wiped her cheek, leaving a small blood stain on her glove. "It's time to get REALLY crazy."

The machine walked around the metal island. Ares watched as the three Inklings, trapped in their Lifesavers, helplessly floated around. He snickered. "How so adorable," he said, "If only I could revive you myself, then I could kill you again! Now...where's that last one?" He suddenly spotted Hilda super-jumping towards him, and turned the machine towards her. "There she is. Ready for Round Two?!" he yelled.

" _You bet your ass I'm ready!_ " Hilda ripped open a second Golden Special package. A giant bazooka suddenly formed in her hands midair, and Hilda aimed it straight at the machine. "INKZOOKA!" She fired the weapon, and huge tornado was launched. Ares was caught off guard, and didn't react in time to dodge. It hit the machine at full force, stunning it and nearly knocking Ares off his seat.

"What the-?!" Hilda fired again, this time the force of the blow managed to blow off some the armor on the lower assembly and legs. She fired three more times, each of them hitting hard. Though a majority of machine barely suffered anything, save for some blown-off armor pieces, one of its legs was damaged from the attack. Hilda landed Splashdown-style, with the Inkzooka still in hand, in front of the machine. "Ha, ha! That hurt!" The machine started walking towards her, but Hilda fired a final shot from the Inkzooka, bringing the damaged leg out of commission. The machine tripped, stopped in its tracks and now immobilized. "That was good! Good! Ha ha! Now we have a fight!"

"Hilda?!" said Jayde.

"Don't think I forgot about you guys!" Hilda said as she tossed a Splat Bomb at Jayde and Bryce, and another at Lucas, reviving them all. They rushed up to Hilda.

"Holy carp!" said Bryce, "How'd you get that?!"

"Mr. Grizz thought ahead."

"Hilda! Y-Your Lifesaver, it's gone!" Jayde panicked.

"Don't worry, I'm not getting splatted 'till this thing's a pile a parts. Now are you with me or not?" Jayde grinned and nodded, as did the others. "Alright guys, this is it! REALLY it! Let's take him down with everything we've got! I've got some secret weapons! Jayde, take this! It's a rapid-fire super shotgun!" She gave her the Grizzco Brella. "Trust me, you'll get the hang of this thing." Hilda equipped the Grizzco Blaster.

"Ha! That's what's you think!" Ares yelled, "Activating Hover Mode!" The machine's thrusters activated, and the upper body detached from the immobile lower body. Now it really was a super Flyfish.

"Time to end this!" yelled Hilda.

"HERE WE GO!" the four crewmates yelled simultaneously. The machine hovered around, firing its Splatling guns first again. The crew stayed together, spreading their own ink and swimming around in it, dodging the ink shots. They knew that in order to take down the machine, and by extension Ares, they would have to disable the various weapons first. The one that came to mind instantly was the Tenta Missiles.

" _Take out the missiles, and he can't use its aiming system to sniff us out!_ " Hilda thought to herself. She got a glimpse of the launchers; it was just like the Flyfish's – in a box. Perfect to have a bomb thrown into. "Hey! One of you guys get on top one of these big blocks! We're gonna start our takedown of this beast!"

"On it!" Lucas yelled as she spread ink across the wall of one of the taller cubes littered across the arena. Hilda did the same. When they were at the top, they could be the flying behemoth head-on and could see the top. Hilda took out a bomb.

"Jayde, Bryce! Distract him. Give us a chance to throw these bombs in his launchers while he's not looking!"

"You got it!" said Bryce. He turned to Ares. "HEY! BIG GUY! OVER HERE!"

"Yeah, you want some?!" Jayde added as she and Bryce ran back a bit.

"Ha! You'll be regretting sayin' that!" Ares responded. Jayde and Bryce each hid behind a different wall. "Hide and seek again, eh?" He prepared the Tenta Missiles.

"Lucas, toss one! NOW!" Hilda yelled as she hurled a bomb at the right launcher, closest to her. Lucas did the same at the left. They just barely got them in. The explosions destroyed the Tenta Missile launchers instantly and some of the armor around them, shaking the machine midair for a bit.

"GAH?! What the hell?" Ares said as he stabilized the machine. He realized the Tenta Missiles were offline. "What?!" He tried to activate them, but they only shorted out, launching a few small sparks. "You little-!" He turned to Hilda and activated the Blaster again. He fired at the Inkling, who had no choice but to retreat.

"Ugh! Without my Lifesaver, too much damage truly is game over!" Jayde, noticing Hilda's danger, rushed over.

"Just what do you think you're doin'?!" she yelled as she activated a Sting Ray. She aimed carefully at the Blaster and fired, but the machine was moving quickly and she missed. She grunted and tried again. She missed again. By now Ares had noticed her and aimed the Blaster at her. Jayde instinctively fired at the Blaster, this time successfully destroying it and managing to damage a Bomb Launcher a bit as well. Parts spread across the ground as the machine backed up. Some more pieces of armor were also flung off.

"Ugh!...Okay, NOW I'm mad!" Ares scolded. He slammed a green button in his cockpit, and the tops of four towers started to rapidly glow red.

"What's that mean?" said Lucas.

"Hilda!" said Bryce, "You had the Inkzooka...do you have an Echolocator by any chance?"

"Yeah, here!" Hilda tossed him the Golden pack and Bryce ripped it open. Black arrows spread across the arena, hunting targets.

"Guys! Those are signal towers! I'm picking up Salmonids! Dozens of 'em coming from all directions!"

"At once?!"

"Yes! He's basically summoning soldiers! Boss Salmonids included!"

"Listen guys! You hold off on Ares for now! We need to take out the incoming horde! I'll see what I can do to keep him away from you!"

"Are you sure?" Jayde asked.

"It'll be easier to survive one super-powered enemy than a bazillion other enemies."

"...Right, we hear you loud and clear!"

"Jayde, Lucas, take these!" Hilda gave them one Golden pack each. "See if you can take out the towers, too! Just keep the Salmonids away from the center of the ring!"

"On it! Good luck!"

"You too!" Hilda rushed to deal with Ares while the rest split up to deal with the incoming hordes. They all prayed their new upgraded suits would do their job. In just seconds, the Salmonid soldiers arrived. One after another, they popped up out of the water to aid their commander. The crew rushed into action.

The Salmonids surrounded the arena from all directions, and before long there were dozens of soldiers, including Boss Salmonids. The swarm was now solely focused on them, allowing Hilda time to focus on Ares.

"Damn!" said Jayde, "How many are there?!"

"More than ever, that's how many!" said Bryce.

"Well don't just stand there! We've gotta get these guys outta here as soon as possible!"

Bryce climbed up a wall by a crowded group of Salmonids before crashing down into the group with the Splashdown, wiping out at least two dozen Salmonid soldiers and a nearby Steelhead that was charging an attack, as well as a Drizzler. Lucas took out his golden Special pack and activated it. He assumed squid form and tripled in size, becoming a monstrous Kraken. He tore through all Salmonids who approached him, including a Scrapper, a Maws, and a Stinger. Jayde went to take down a Flyfish and a Steel Eel, deciding to save her second Sting Ray special.

"Doin' good!" she said, "I think we're making progress!"

"Yeah, but they just keep coming!" said Bryce, "We can't last forever, we'll tire out soon!"

"It's gotta be those towers!" said Lucas, "Jayde! You still got a Sting Ray on ya?"

"I know what you're thinking!" Jayde said as she activated and aimed the Sting Ray at one of the four signal towers. She fired at the tip, and she heard something break as the tower stopped glowing. " _Yes! It's working!_ " Jayde fired at the remaining three towers to disable them one by one.

"What?!" Ares yelled as he noticed what was going on. Hilda was taking cover under the collapsed lower assembly wreck. She was forced to hide during a Splatling attack. She examined the assembly for anything she could use. Even a piece of armor to throw at Ares would suffice. "STOP IT!" Ares yelled, but Jayde had already destroyed the last tower. Ares could no longer summon more foes. Ares was furious as he activated his own Sting Ray and ordered a Stinger to take aim as well. Ares rushed at Jayde.

"JAYDE!" Hilda yelled, "The Gold Special! I made sure it was your favorite!" Jayde instantly knew what she meant. She activated the Gold Special pack, and a massive megaphone formed. Jayde slammed it to the ground and aimed at the incoming machine. "Activating Killer Wail!" The device blasted an equally massive sonic blast directly at Ares. The screeching noise halted the machine right in its tracks.

Ares screeched in pain as he covered his ears. Hilda jumped up from one of the pillars near the machine, clinging onto the Sting Ray and yanking on it. The sonic blast had managed to loosen some of the bolts, and eventually Hilda detached the weapon and it, alongside her, fell to the ground. She then ran to join her crewmates.

"Almost there!" said Hilda, "Just a little bit farther and he's done!"

"Grrr...that's what you think," said Ares, "Did you really think...This thing doesn't have a failsafe?!" The machine then rushed back to the center, and unleashed a rapidly-expanding cloud of mist that engulfed the entire arena.

"Gah! What the-?"

"Ugh...This is...This is Toxic Mist, isn't it?!"

"Oh come on!"

"Now I've got ya right where I want ya," said Ares as he activated something else.

"Uhhh...what's that noise?" said Bryce. Suddenly, a sudden EMP blast was unleashed, stunning the Inklings even further, worsening the magnetic effects the area already had on em. Disorientated, the Inklings tried to piece together what just happened.

"Gah! What the hell was that?!" said Bryce, clutching his head.

"I think it was some sort of...EMP," said Lucas.

"Ugh...that stuff's nasty to our sensory organs, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Now what...?!" Hilda said as she tried to shake off the confusion.

"Now for the finishing touch," said Ares. He flew his machine up higher, and small beeping was heard by Hilda, who turned around. It was coming from the lower assembly. Her eyes widened.

"GET DOWN!" she yelled as the assembly self-destructed, launching shrapnel and debris everywhere. The crewmates managed to evade the incoming debris by taking cover behind a wall, but were still pushed back. Hilda however, wasn't as lucky, and a small piece of shrapnel sliced her left arm as she rushed forward, bringing her down as she screamed in pain.

"HILDA!" Jayde yelled. Once the Toxic Mist and the force of the explosion dissipated, she and the others rushed for Hilda. She was trying to get back to her knees, clutching her bleeding arm. "Hilda! Are you alright?!"

"I-I'm fine!" she grunted.

"No, you're bleeding!" said Lucas, "Stay down!"

"No," said Hilda, "This is my fight. Our fight. I'm not falling down until he's down." She stood up, glaring at Ares.

"Wha-?! Are you still alive?!" Ares yelled, "Ugh! You've GOT to be kidding me!"

"It takes more than a little...mist and an explosion to kill me, Ares!"

"You're making this much harder than it has to be, you little squid! Once this thing is done recharging up from all that, your head's gonna be my dinner tonight!"

"What do we do?" said Bryce, "We've used up our gold specials!"

"No," said Hilda, "All but one." She held her last pack, the Inkstrike, "That thing's armor...It's gotta be weakened quite a bit by now. This thing should be the final blow! All I have to do is stand here until it launches. Anyone can stand around for a few seconds." He looked at Ares, struggling to get the machine to recharge faster.

"But even so...one Inkstrike might not be enough force," said Lucas, "We may need a little bit more oomph."

Hilda thought about this for a minute. She tried to think of a way to add extra force to the Inkstrike impact. An idea suddenly popped into her mind. She grinned. "Hey, Bryce. Got an extra Splashdown?"

"Uhh...yeah, why?" Bryce asked.

"Wait," said Jayde, "Hilda, what are thinking?"

"I'm gonna ride this missile," Hilda said, "I'll activate the Splashdown from all the way up there. The higher you are, the more powerful the Splashdown is. It should give it a little extra boost."

"WHAT?!" said Lucas, "Hilda, I know you're crazy but...that's insane! What if-"

"Hey, it's just like the Mothership. Only this time, I get a much higher boost." The crew was silent for a moment. They thought about Hilda's plan, and she patiently awaited their response.

"An insane idea...I like it. Okay," said Jayde, "I'll launch. Hilda, you hang on." Hilda nodded and gave Jayde the Inkstrike pack and she ripped it open. The giant missile appeared on Jayde's back and Lucas took the launching tablet. Hilda, holding the Splashdown special in her mouth, grabbed the handle on the Inkstrike as it prepared to launch. Lucas locked the missile's trajectory onto Ares, and missile began its launch off Jayde's back. It rocketed into the air, with Hilda hanging on tightly, even with her left arm's injury making it difficult to keep her grip.

Ares panicked, trying again to get the machine to recharge. It was stuck moving very slowly, so evading wouldn't work. Within seconds, the Inkstrike reached its peak height in the air. Hilda jumped off the missile, and activated the Splashdown as the Inkstrike started to plummet.

" _C'mon Hilda..._ " Jayde said to herself. Hilda started plummeting downwards like the oversized ink missile she was following, her eyes locked on her target.

" _Your time is up, silver Salmonid,_ " she thought, " _It's finally time to BRING! YOU! DOWN!_ " The machine was near maximum charge when Ares saw the missile right over him. The crewmates took cover behind a wall. A few more seconds passed...

 **KABOOM.**

Hilda and the Inkstrike struck the machine simultaneously. The infamously massive ink tornado sprang up, enlarged even more by Hilda's Splashdown. The machine wasn't even visible. The crewmates saw parts of the machine fly around and launched from the tornado as it devastated the behemoth. A large explosion of ink followed, spreading ink all over the arena. When all had cleared up, all that was left was the wrecked remains of the machine, surrounded by armor and parts ripped off of it.

The mission was finally over.


	12. Chapter 12: That's a Wrap (UPDATED)

"I-Is it over?" said Bryce as he observed the damage. The machine was completely decimated, now nothing more than a pile of ink-stained parts and broken weapons.

"I...think it might b-" Lucas started.

"Wait!" Jayde said, "Where's Hilda?!"

"...Oh carp! Hilda!" The crew immediately ran to the wreckage to look for their missing crewmate. She landed right on him, they thought, she couldn't be far. They yelled out her name over and over, looking around and through the rubble for any signs of her.

"Oh no...Did she get crushed?! Without her Lifesaver there's no way she survived if she did!"

"You sure about that?!" said a muffled voice from with the rubble.

"Hilda?!"

"Who else?!" Hilda said as she pulled herself out of the rubble, tossing away a large chunk of armor that was covering her. She had a few more scrapes and bruises now, but was otherwise alright. She stood triumphantly on top of the pile of parts. "Guess you can add 'crushed by rubble' to the list of things that can't kill me."

"Oh thank God, you're alive!"

Hilda slid down the wreck and reunited with her crewmates. "What? You think I wouldn't be?"

"That was quite some work we just did," said Bryce, "That thing was a REAL beast. I never thought I'd ever see a machine like that."

"Well, it's over now," said Jayde.

"Uh...not quite," said Lucas as he pointed to the wreckage. The crew saw Ares crawling out his destroyed cockpit from beneath the pile, covered in marks. He collapsed just about meter away from it.

Hilda glared at him as she took out her Splash-o-Matic and walked up to him. "Well. How does it feel to be helpless?" she said to him.

"Grrr..." Ares replied, "I guess...we feel each other's pain." He chuckled. "Not bad, little girl. Not bad. Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"

"It can be." Hilda felt the tip of her weapon. "Just so you know Ares, that day you came to the shore...when you took back the eggs...Attacking me was your worst mistake."

"Wha-? H-Ha ha ha...That's why you're so worked up? Just a bite? That's IT?! Ha ha ha! What a stupid reason for vengeance."

"This isn't just for me anymore."

"What?" Are said, confused. Even the other crewmates paused.

"Who knows how many others you may have killed with that...thing. I saw the damage you did to Crew 38B. I'm not gonna let you live to find out what else could have happened."

"If it's me killing Inklings that you're trying to avoid, you're far too late. I've taken out dozens by now."

"Then that gives me all the more reason to take YOU out." She again checked the tip of her weapon and pointed it at Ares. "Any last words?"

"...I do have some, actually." He smiled. "The guys who gave me that thing...Ha ha...They'll be comin' for ya. All of ya. Every Inkling ever. And when they do, it'll end real bad f-" He was interrupted by an ink shot to the face, splatting him.

"Enough." Hilda looked at the puddle of orange ink for a moment, then turned around and looked towards the sky. She sighed in relief. "Now, it's over. It's finally over."

"Hilda..." said Jayde as she walked up to her. She smiled. "We did it."

"We did it?" she replied, "That's all you have to say? After that battle?! That was the most intense thing I've ever been in!"

"I'll say!" said Lucas, "We just beat a real beast! And if this doesn't call for a celebration, I don't know what the hell does!"

Hilda chuckled. She looked to the wreckage. "Let's see if we can find anything in there, first." The crew walked back to the machine and examined it. Bryce found one of its armor plates. A symbol was printed on it of a shield with an octopus symbol on it. Behind the shield were four tentacles curved like horns at the top, and below the shield were too charger-like weapons in the formation of crossbones. Right under the octopus on the shield read the initials: NOA.

"I swear I've seen that name!" Bryce said.

"What name?" Jayde asked.

"NOA! I know it stands for something but...urgh...I can't remember. I think my brother mentioned it once."

"I'm sure it's not that important," said Hilda.

"Hello?! Hey!" said Mr. Grizz over the radio. The static had cleared up now. The machine must have been sending some sort of interference before. "You kids alright?!"

"Mr. Grizz?" Hilda said, "We hear you loud and clear!"

"Perfect. The signal just vanished! Did you beat it?"

"We did one better. We demolished it! Nothin' but parts now!"

"Inkredible! That's exactly what I was hoping to hear! So what was it?"

"A giant killing machine!" said Lucas, "Just like Daniel said. But apparently the thing was built to withstand the current weapons, not the original specials that were banned a year ago."

"Yeah, those really helped," Hilda added. She looked to her arm and the fresh wound on it. "But anyway, we should be heading back soon. Who knows what else could be lurking in these waters."

"I gotcha covered, kid. Just go back to the boat when you need to. I'll be sure to give you a hero's welcome."

"Thanks, sir."

"Hey guys! Look at this!" Jayde said as she uncovered what looked like a cargo box in the rubble. It was the only thing still intact from the wreckage. It had a few broken tubes connected to it. She yanked on a hatch on the box, and threw it open. It was filled to the brim with Golden Eggs.

"Whoa! Jackpot!" said Hilda.

"What was it doing with all of these?" Lucas asked.

"Not sure...maybe for power?"

"Looks like the Snatchers took a day off, too!" said Bryce said as he pointed to several Golden Eggs spilled across the arena from the Boss Salmonids summoned in Ares' attack.

"I can already smell the paycheck!" Hilda said jokingly.

 _Several Hours Later..._

"There ya go," said an Inkling girl, part of Crew 38B, "All cleaned and patched up!" She was tending to Hilda's wounds, now that she and her crewmates were back at the Grizzco building. She had applied a bandage to the scrape on Hilda's arm, while the more minor wounds were simply cleaned up without much of an issue. Both Inklings were now in their casual gear.

"Thanks," Hilda said, "I didn't know you were a medic."

"Medic in training, actually. Every team needs one, just in case things don't go your way."

"Really? All you gotta do in a Salmon Run shift is shoot some ink at 'em."

"Hehe, but what if they didn't have a Lifesaver? Like you?" Hilda didn't respond to her comment. "Hey, don't sweat it." The girl closed her medical kit and walked out of the room. Hilda followed, exiting the room into the main entrance area. She ran into Daniel, who looked at her with satisfaction. Hilda only smirked and raised an eyebrow, waiting eagerly for his response.

"Well," he said, "Guess I was wrong. So you took it down, eh?"

"Uh huh," she replied, "Without a Lifesaver, even! The other guys and I had to weaken it a bit first, but once we did, it was just an Inkstrike and a Splashdown away from defeat." She paused. "So, are you gonna take back what you said before or what?"

Daniel snickered. "Fine. You win. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, I am." She walked to the meeting room. Daniel looked at her as she did.

Hilda opened the door to find Jayde, Bryce, and Lucas waiting for her. They too now wore their casual outfits.

"There she is!" said Jayde, "The insane daredevil returns!"

"Ha ha! You're just as crazy as I am, Jayde," Hilda joked.

"Ha! We all are!" Bryce said. "Man! Talk about a day!"

"No kidding," said Lucas, "I'm not forgetting this for a long time." The group chatted for a while, talking about their recent battle among other things. It felt good to finally have a true rest, especially after the Ares battle. About an hour passed before Mr. Grizz called them down to see him. The crewmates gathered around his bear statue.

"I'm extremely proud of you, Crew 27A," said Mr. Grizz, "You have not only have you been through some of the most intense Salmon Runs I've seen, but you've also truly taken down a Mothership and destroyed a war machine. You even managed to bring back 40 Golden Eggs just from that thing, too! I gotta say, you're proba-...no, DEFINITELY one of the best crews I've ever had, if not THE best."

"Thank you," said Hilda, "Much appreciated."

"Of course, I can't exactly let this go unrewarded. I'm gonna double your paycheck from here on out. Y'all deserve it."

"Wait, really?! Are you serious?!" said Jayde.

"When have I not been?" The crew was ecstatic. They cheered, having a small mini-celebration with themselves.

"Hey, Hilda?" said Mr. Grizz.

"Yeah?"

"You did say that you joined only to get that Silver Salmonid, right? So...now that he's gone...what are you thinking of doing now? I mean, you completed your mission."

"What, did you think I was gonna quit? This job's way too adrenaline-pumping for me to leave!"

"O-Oh! I was just curious. Heh heh! Good to hear you're stayin', kid. We could use more people like you around here."

"Thank you again, sir!"

"Hey, what about us?!" Jayde said.

"Oh c'mon! Of course Y'ALL did a fantastic job! Hilda's just the MVP here."

"I can see why! Like they say, crazy is better."

"No one ever says that!" Lucas said.

"I do!" Hilda said. The crew had a nice laugh. Even Mr. Grizz chuckled a bit.

"Alright ya crazy kids," he said, "Get outta here, you deserve a real break." The crewmates exited the shop and claimed their rewards at the desk by the entrance to the building. They then walked over to Crusty Sean to grab a meal, and sat down to chat.

 _One Week Later..._

The sun began to set as another day came to an end. Hilda, dressed in a brand new Juice Parka and wearing a pair of Angry Rain Boots, was sitting by the left side of the Deca Tower on the curved bench where Judd and Lil' Judd were sleeping, with a Special-Up Smoothie in her hand. She was resting after a series of intense League Battles with her crewmates.

She was just sitting around looking at her surroundings. The city was so much different in the later hours. Only a few night owl Inklings were in the square, chatting and walking. Grizzco was closed by now, so there was no need to report for a shift. There wasn't nearly as much noise in the Square at night, either. Even Pearl and Marina weren't visible in their studio. The city was quiet, but peaceful.

Hilda was sipping her drink when an Inkling boy appeared in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere, slightly startling her. He had blue hair in the standard ponytail style, fair skin, and green eyes. He wore a FishFry Visor, a Chilly Mountain Coat, and a pair of Blue Power Stripes shoes. He was carrying a huge case on his back. Bryce was beside him.

"Oh hey Bryce!" said Hilda, "Who's this?"

"Hey Hilda. This is my twin brother, Nathaniel," Bryce said, "He wanted to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you," Nathan said, shaking Hilda's hand, "Bryce told me about you. You seem pretty skilled from what I've heard."

"Ah, thank you. He's told you about me?"

"Quite a bit."

"More than I should've," Bryce said jokingly.

"So, Bryce here told me you took down some kind of war machine?"

"Yep," Hilda replied, "I had his help of course, and the help of my friends, Jayde and Lucas."

"That's what I heard. That's an impressive feat. He also told me you made a new team recently."

"Huh? Oh yeah! The Slayers! We just got officially registered in the League. Everyone already knows us for our insane plays. Hehe."

Nathan chuckled. He then gave Hilda a competitive look. "Bryce suggested me and my team challenge you this morning."

Hilda was caught a bit off guard. The team was just a day old and already they were getting a challenge – or maybe even a rival. "Y-You're challenging us? Already? Um…forgive me for asking, but why?" The boy paused.

"I have my reasons. I want to see how strong you really are. We've been looking for powerful opponents to battle against lately."

"Yeah, and this guy knows how to truly swing a roller!" Bryce added, "So I suggested we go against him and his crew." He then leaned in to whisper to Hilda, "You know, he's taken down a few tough customers himself."

"So, you two have time next week?"

 **THE END**

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE 6/26/2018**_ _ **:**_ _You've probably noticed that the ending for this story has been changed. This is because Inkling Uprising, my next project, has changed during development, and the ending change here is to better fit the upcoming title. Yes, it's still coming but is very close to being ready. It should be starting soon. ;)_

 _ **N/A** **:** Thank you to everyone who read this story to completion! I hope you all enjoyed it! However, this is only a side story. The real deal, a story called Inkling Uprising, is in the works and coming soon! Salmon Slayer takes place during the events of this story, which will be the main storyline and the true reboot of Inkling Ascension. It will probably be some time before it begins, so I'll see you then!_


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